A Werewolf and A Lawyer
by Shlane
Summary: The events of the series through the eyes of Kyle. What was he thinking when Mercy told him about Warren? What happened to them between the novels? Rating subject to change
1. Moon Called Part 1

Title: A Werewolf and a Lawyer

Author: Shlane

Ratings: T (for now, may have to raise it later)

Pairings: Warren/Kyle, (Later, Mercy/Adam and Charles/Anna)

Warnings: Slash, violence, swearing, sexual content (no worse then in the books)

Discalimer: If you recognise it, it's not mine (some dialogue is taken directly from the novels by Patricia Briggs)

Summery: The Mercy Thompson series through the eyes of Kyle, because there's really not enough of him and Warren in the series.

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Moon Called – Part 1

Warren had been on edge for days, something was stressing him out but once again he wouldn't tell me what it was, all he would say was that it was something to do with his friend Adam who I had never actually met and our mutual friend Mercy, both were missing. That much I could figure out on my own when my repeated calls to her house weren't answered. A woman called Auriele had phoned to tell Warren about what ever it was that was going on but after that there had been nothing. No calls from anyone and that seemed to get Warren more agitated than if someone had called.

There had been one up side to Warren been so stressed and that was that I got plenty of opportunities to distress him. Not that he managed to stay relaxed for very long. We were laid on the bed having just finished a round of relaxing bed games, when the Warren's cell rang. He answered it in a flash, "Warren, here. Is this you, Mercy? Where have you been? Do you know where Adam and Jesse are?"

Shit, I thought, his friend's daughter was missing too? This was bad, what the hell was Warren, and now it seemed Adam and possibly Mercy, caught up in?

I couldn't hear what she said in response but Warren's tone suddenly became cold, "Who was that?" Warren said as he headed towards the bathroom, just before he closed the door I heard him ask, "Is this a coup?"

What the hell was going on where _that _was a question that you had to ask, for what felt like the hundredth time I wondered if Warren was caught up in gang or drug dealing. I climbed off the bed and started dressing, it was clear that the fun and games were over for the evening so I pulled on clean dark slacks and a purple button down shirt, since I wasn't planning on going anywhere I left the top couple of buttons undone.

When Warren emerged from the bathroom he looked marginally better than he had early but it was a narrow margin. He sighed tiredly as he sat down on the bed. "Mercy's fine and Adam's alive." He told me.

"But not Adam's daughter?" I asked as I sat down beside him. He looked at me surprised, "I'm paid to be observant Warren and you were only on the other side of the room when you mentioned her, Jesse's his daughter right?"

"Yeah." He said tiredly.

"Warren, what's going on?"

He rubbed his eyes, "I don't know."

"What are you caught up in?" I ask though I already had a feeling that he wouldn't tell me, "Is it gangs? Drugs?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about." He assured me. That wasn't an answer but it was the same one he always gave. "But we're having visitors."

I looked up and down his nude form appreciating, "Don't you think you might want to put some clothes on?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "I was under the impression I was the only one allowed to see that?"

Warren glanced down, only then seeming to notice he was naked, "You're right." I relaxed on the bed and enjoyed the view as my lover got dressed in jeans, without holes, and a shirt that had seen an iron at some point recently, if nothing else I was good for Warren's dress sense. When he was dressed he joined me on the bed, laying his head on my chest.

I brushed my fingers through his hair, "You've been so worried love, why won't you let me help?"

"I can't."

"You won't." I corrected, "I want to help you Warren. Why won't you let me in?" Rather than answering me this time, with either denials or lies, Warren was contented to lay silently and doodle shapes on my clothed chest. Sighing I kissed his hair, knowing I'd get nothing from him. We stayed that way until Warren suddenly jumped up and sped down the stairs and out the front door, I wasn't sure he had actually stopped to put shoes on before he went outside.

I followed at a more sedate pace and stopped in the hallway to slip my shoes on, if we were having guests I didn't know I wasn't wandering round in bare feet, as I did so I noticed that Warren had in fact stopped to pull on his battered pair of cowboy boots though he must have set a new world record for getting them on. Then I took a peek out of the front window and saw Warren standing beside the open side door of Mercy's van, even that far away he looked tense.

I watched for a while but when it looked like they were about to head inside I went into the kitchen and grabbed myself a drink of water, as I downed the glass I heard the front door open and the sound of Warren's footsteps on the stairs. When I'd rinsed the glass in the sink I went back into the living room I found Mercy perusing Warren's large and eclectic book collection and a strange man sitting on the sofa.

I leant against the kitchen doorway in what Warren likes to call my pretty boy pose. "Oh, Mercy," I said in a soft voice. "This one is pretty. Why aren't you flirting with him?" I might have been acting the stereotypical gay man but it could be beneficial in the long run, it tended to cause people to underestimate me which I could then turn to my advantage.

The unknown man stiffened and he did not seem happy, I guessed he didn't like gays, either that or lawyer but since I hadn't told him my job I was going to assume the disapproval was due to my sexual preference.

"Good to see you," Mercy said. "This is an old friend visiting from Montana." She turned to the man, "Samuel, this is Kyle Brooks. Kyle, meet Dr. Samuel Cornick."

I pushed off the door frame and strolled into the living room, pausing to kiss Mercy lightly on the cheek I took a seat next to the disapproving Dr Cornick, closer than a straight man would generally be comfortable with another man sitting. When this didn't get a reaction I moved on to a more direct approach and put my hand on his knee. I don't back away from disapproval or confrontation and I flirtation as a weapon.

When Warren came back downstairs he paused for a moment at the sight my hand in Dr Cornick's leg and didn't look happy about it, but whether that was from jealousy or a reaction to what ever stress he had been under for the past few days I wasn't sure. I thought he knew me well enough to know that while I joked about flirting or used it to make others uncomfortable, it was never serious.

"Kyle, it might be a good idea to take a few days and check out the state of your house." He kept his tone even but that Texas drawl that I love was gone. "I'm hiding someone for a few days. It's not illegal, but it won't be safe here until he's gone."

"Darling," I told him, keeping my voice light, "If you don't want me around, I'm gone. I suppose I'll accept Geordi's invitation for Thanksgiving, shall I?" One of my partners at the law firm had invited me to Thanksgiving again this year; I think she felt sorry for me knowing that I didn't get along with my family. I had no intention of doing so but it would stop Warren feeling too bad for basically throwing me out. I didn't want him to be hurt.

"It's just for a couple of days," said Warren, his heart in his eyes, this was hard for him to do. It seemed like he wanted me there even as he was sending me away. This secret double life of his was really starting to bother me.

"Does this have something to do with what you've been so upset about the past couple of days?" I asked. I did not like the way Warren glanced at Dr Cornick quickly before he nodded, in fact if it wasn't for Mercy, who I trusted implicitly, introducing him I'd have been tempted to throw him out of the house, something about him put me on the defensive. "All right. A couple of days. I'll leave my stuff here."

"I'll call you." Warren promised.

"You do that." I said knowing that if I got an explanation for tonight it would only be lies, Warren was keeping something from and it was starting to come between us.

I managed to close the door gently behind me, resisting the temptation to slam it like a jilted lover, even if that was what I felt like. I made it as far as my car but after that I jus sat behind the wheel and stared into space.

There was something going on, something bad and my Warren was caught up in the middle of it. He promised it was nothing illegal but a part of me wondered, he'd been keeping secrets from me for a long time now.

I always expected a new relationship to have secrets, it was inevitable that there are simply things you didn't want to tell someone immediately or simply things that didn't come up. However Warren and I had been dating for months, I practically lived at his house and yet still the secrets remained. Even as I started to tell mine he kept quite, I knew next to nothing about his family, save that they weren't around any more, or about his childhood.

And it was more than that people would call at all hours and he'd disappear without a word. It almost sounded like something I would hear at work and as divorce attorney late night phone calls and disappearances only ever meant one thing. Infidelity.

I didn't want to believe it, Warren seemed devoted to me and he never looked at other men, even in the joking fashion I did. But then how many women do I hear every year saying that they never thought their husband would cheat on them until it happened. Still for some reason an affair just didn't seem to be the explanation.

So what options did that leave? Gangs? Drugs? Something else illegal? Warren had denied them all but still the possibility lingered in my mind, after all what other explanation could there be for hiding someone at his house, someone who's presence made it too dangerous for me to stay. From the phone call earlier I assumed that Adam's daughter had been kidnapped and earlier he'd asked Mercy if it was a coup, was it possible for there to be an explanation for everything that had happened that wasn't illegal?

I realised that for the first time I was truly angry at Warren. Before now we'd argued occasionally, usually followed by great make up sex, and he'd annoyed me with his secrets but now I was really angry.

He was putting himself in a situation he had admitted was dangerous and he wouldn't tell me anything. He kept pushing me away and damn it, I'd had enough. I didn't need to know everything, if he though it was really necessary to keep that part of his life separate from the life we had together than I could accept that. But he needed to at least tell me something about what was going on, he needed to let me in. But less than an hour ago he had proved yet again that he refused to do that when he had refused to tell me what was going on. Damn it! He wouldn't even tell me what was going on when it was a mutual friend.

And on the subject of friends, Warren had several that he occasionally mentioned by name, including the Adam that I assumed was the man currently hiding at Warren's house, but Mercy was the only one I had ever met. They called the house or his cell at odd hours and he'd disappear, sometimes for the rest of the night only to return without an explanation and occasionally with cuts or bruises that seemed to heal remarkably quickly.

I was almost starting to think that he didn't want me to know about this, what ever it was, because he didn't want me as a part of his life. Certainly not the permanent part that I could see myself being.

As I stared straight ahead I knew that this would either make or break this relationship, if Warren wouldn't open up and tell me something about what was going on then we wouldn't last because I'd had enough of been pushed out of his life. It hurt damn it, feeling like he didn't want me there.

I was surprised when I heard the passenger door open. I glanced to the side and wasn't all that surprised to see that it was Mercy. "Take us to Howard Amon Park," She told me.

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To Be Continued

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	2. Moon Called Part 2

Disclaimer: Still not mine and since I hate putting these at the start of each chapter this will apply to all subsequent chapters.

AN: Thank you to my reviewers, sorry I didn't gat a chance to answer you but it's been a busy week for me. Mouf-Mouf, you will never find me commenting on your grammar since mine tends to be worse as I'm dyslexic. Sue, I double checked and Kyle later calls his sister Ally so the Thanksgiving invite can't have been from her but if you pick up any more continuity errors please let me know.

Dedication: For Anduria Trianys, who has beta-read this despite never actually having read the series and has fallen in love with Warren and Kyle.

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Moon Called Part 2

My face was the blank mask that Warren liked to call my lawyer's face, not revealing anything I was thinking or feeling. I glanced at Mercy once as I started the car, wondering what was in Howard Amon Park that was so important to her that she wanted to go there now, at night in November.

She said nothing but my reading of her body language and posture was that she was nervous about something and I wondered angrily if she was involved in what ever Warren was caught up in.

We drove in silence through the light Wednesday evening traffic, both of us caught up in our own thoughts. My mind continued to revolve around Warren and his out right refusal to tell me anything, and as much as it hurt me to admit it I had had enough. If he didn't start explaining things to me soon then it was over between us, I simply was not prepared to endure the lies any more.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked in one of the many empty spaces in the near empty lot. I glanced over at Mercy and noticed for the first time that she was still dressed in only a tee shirt, not an ideal choice for going outside in the November night air. "It's cold, we could talk in the car." I offered

"No," She insisted and got I, I sighed and followed her. She was already shivering in the old night air and I felt the cold as well so I went to the trunk of the car and pulled out the light jacket for myself leaving the warmer trench coat that I also kept in there for her since her clothes were thinner than mine to begin with.

"Put this on before you turn blue," I told her as I handed it to her.

She gratefully pulled it on, since we were a similar size it fit her pretty well and she seemed to agree.

"I like it, I need to get one of these." I tried to smile but all I felt was tired, tired of lies and secrets, tired of everything that was wrong in my relationships. "Let's walk," She suggested.

I allowed her to tuck her arm through mine and let her lead me past the disserted play ground and onto the path that ran beside the river. I kept silent as we walked, she was the one that had come to me and then insisted that we drive to an almost disserted park, she could be the one to break the silence and explain what the hell we were doing out there.

"Do you love Warren?" Her question surprised me a little, it was not how I'd expected the conversation to start and it was certainly not a question I expected her to ever ask, I thought the answer was obvious. She clarified it a little. "Not the good sex and great company kind of love. I mean the I'll-follow-you-to-death-and-beyond kind."

I paused for a moment to think about it and then came up with the best example I could think of to explain how I felt about Warren. "My sister Ally is the only one of my family I still talk to. I told her about Warren a few months ago. I hadn't realized, until she mentioned it, that I'd never told her about any of my other lovers." I placed my other hand over hers where it rested on my arm. "My parents denied what I was for years." I explained to her, "When I finally confronted them about it after my mother set me up with yet another young woman with a good pedigree, my father disinherited me." I edited out all of the screaming and shouting that had also heavily featured in my last conversation with my parents. "My sister Ally called as soon as she heard." Been older than me Alison, better known as Ally, always felt that she had to take care of her little brother.

"But, after that first conversation, we avoid talking about my being gay. When I talk to her, I feel as if I have a scarlet letter sewn on my chest, and we are both trying to pretend it's not there." I laughed bitterly at the small amount of tension that existed when ever I talked to my big sister, it was certainly better than when I tried to talk to our parents. My laugh trailed off as I remembered what Ally had said the last time we'd spoken, "Ally told me to bring him to visit." I said in a subdued tone before looking at Mercy, hoping that she could se in my eyes just how much that invitation meant to me, that the only family I had left wanted to meet Warren meant more to me than words could describe.

We'd been walking fast along the path and soon the well manicured lawns that banked the river gave way to knee-high grass and wild bushes. There was a metal swing seat nearby, the type that you tend to get on porches, a short distance away and Mercy pulled me in that direction.

We sat there and watched the near black water of the river as it flowed past us, but I wasn't paying attention to the scenery, I was having a minor epiphany and it had brought tears to my eyes. I loved Warren, really and truly loved him. The I'll-follow-you-to-death-and-beyond type of love, as Mercy had put it.

"God," I said after I wiped away the tears that had formed as I had my revelation. I noticed Mercy flinch slightly and reminded myself not to say stuff like that around religious people. "I love him." It almost hurt admit it, knowing all the trouble that existed between us. "But he won't let me _in_." Now I'd started I couldn't stop, I had to say all of it aloud to someone and I had a feeling that Mercy might understand, at least she seemed to know what was going on with Warren, perhaps she could explain some of it. While I'd prefer the explanation came form Warren it had reached the point where I'd settle for anyone explaining. "People call in the middle of the night, and he leaves without telling me where he's going."

A lone bicyclist, dressed in the skin tight Superman blue lycra that marked him as a true die-hard enthusiast. "Nice legs," I commented, as much out of habit as to try and ease some of the tension that I followed my declaration.

Mercy leaned her head against my shoulder "Too small. I don't like it when I outweigh my men." It was an old game for us, Mercy and I would compare noted on men and Warren could pretend to be exasperated with us but I could always see the laughter in his eyes.

I leaned back against the swing and looked up at the sky, there was so much going on that I didn't understand. Sometimes it almost seemed as though Warren was two different people, most of the time he was confident and commanding, not taking shit from any one. But then around certain people he backed down and allowed them to treat him like dirt. It didn't make any sense.

"When we were in Seattle last month," I didn't know why I was telling Mercy this but I just wanted to tell _somebody_. "He drove away a group of drunken, redneck gay-bashers, just scared them off with a few words. But that Darryl treats him like" I struggled to find the right word. "Like dirt, and Warren just puts up with it. I don't

understand. And this stuff tonight" I paused and took a deep breath. "Is he involved with drug dealers?" Warren had said it wasn't anything illegal but I had to check. That was my greatest fear, that Warren was managed to get himself involved in something dangerous and he was going to end up in a morgue.

Mercy shook her head quickly. "No. Nothing illegal."

Well that was a relief, and she had answered so quickly that I sure it was the truth. Though that did still leave the question of what could be going on, excluding illegal stuff and assuming it wasn't an affair because no matter what I couldn't see Warren doing that. One thing came to mind, one that would explain the secrets easily. "Is he a fae, then?" I wouldn't bother me if he was, just so long as I knew.

"The fae all came out years ago." Mercy said.

I snorted. "You're not that dumb." And on top of that I knew that she knew at least one fae, her old boss Zee. "I know a few doctors and teachers who are still in the closet about being gay and all they have to worry about is losing their jobs, not having a group of idiots burn their houses down." I relaxed a little, Warren been a fae would explain a lot, "That would explain some things, like how strong he is and how he knows who's coming before he answers the door."

"He's not fae," She told me, it seemed like she wanted to say more but wasn't sure how to go about it, I sighed.

"Warren should be the one telling me this."

"Right," She agreed. "But he can't."

I scoffed at that, "You mean he won't."

"No. Can't." She was very firm about that point and it made me wonder again just what the hell was going on that Warren not only wouldn't tell me about it but couldn't. "I don't have many friends," She continued, it seemed off topic to me but if it helped her to get out what she wanted to tell me then I wasn't going to argue. "Not 'come over and eat popcorn and watch a stupid movie' friends. You and Warren are sort of it."

"Pretty sad," I commented and, "You and Warren are the only people I eat popcorn with, too." I admitted.

"Pathetic." She agreed and then dropped her bomb shell. "Warren's a werewolf."

"A what?" I said, my mind immediately filling with images from horror movies of hairy monsters howling at the moon and baying for blood. A part of me really hoped I'd misunderstood what she had said.

"A werewolf." Mercy repeated, "You know. The moon-called, run-on-four-feet-with-big-fangs kind of werewolf."

So much for misunderstanding. "You're serious." I'm good at reading and her face told me that she was deadly serious.

Though my comment had been a statement not a question she nodded any way. "And you're not going to breathe a word of it."

"Oh?" It was more my curiosity at why she was so certain than questioning whether I would or not, no matter how bad things got between Warren and myself I would never betray his trust like that and expose his secret. I may have been young when the fae first came out but I remember what it was like and I would never subject Warren to that.

"That's why Warren couldn't tell you. That and because Adam, the pack Alpha, forbade it." She was talking so quickly that I had to focus to understand her but since she was also giving me the answers I needed even if they weren't necessarily the ones I wanted I put all my effort into paying very close attention. "If you go out now and talk to the authorities or the papers, even if they don't believe you, the pack will kill you. Warren will fight them, but there are too many of them. He'll die, and you'll die with him."

I had to stop her there. "Hold on. It's a little soon for you to have Warren and me dead, don't you think?"

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I hope so. You have to believe me on this, they take their secrecy very seriously. How do you think they've remained undetected for so long?"

This just seemed unreal. I may have wanted answers but these weren't the ones I expected or in truth even the ones I particularly want and that made me question if it was real. "Mercy. A werewolf?" In a world where the fae exist not believing in werewolves might seem strange but I've seen the fae, I know they are real. Accepting that a man can turn into a wolf was more difficult because I hadn't been given direct evidence that it was possible. And moreover believing Warren to be a werewolf was almost impossible, I just couldn't picture him as one of the blood thirsty killers that populated the film and TV screens.

"Twenty years ago no one believed in the fae, either." Mercy pointed out quite reasonably. "Look, I can prove it to you." She glanced over towards a thicket of leafless bushes, "Wait here." She pulled off my trench coat and handed it to me before disappearing into the bushes. My mind hardly had time to question what she was planning, if she was a werewolf too, when a four legged animal stepped out of the bushes Mercy had just disappeared into.

There was only one explanation that I could come up with. "Mercy?" I asked looking at the animal, a rather large part of me had refused to accept were wolves could be real but now I had proof that shape shifting was possible then surely werewolves must be too.

Mercy wagged her tail like a pet dog and made a soft crooning noise, it sounded as though she was inviting me closer. Slowly I got up, still suffering from mild shock, and made my way over to her. One thing I was certain of was that while werewolves might exist and Warren might be one of them, Mercy wasn't.

My sister Ally like animals when we were growing up and though I'd never had much interest I could still identify a wolf and the creature in front of me wasn't one though I could hazard a guess as to what she was. "A coyote?"

She nodded, a very strange thing to see a coyote do and then headed back into the bush where she had changed. I had to follow her, not from any desire to see her naked but because my curiosity demanded that I see her change forms. I was amazed a the speed with which she could do, it seemed as though she melted from one form into the other. I was a lot less surprised by the speed at which she put her clothes back on, it was getting very cold out.

"I'm not a werewolf," She told me as she ran her fingers through her hair trying to straighten it out after her change. "But I'm as close as you're going to get until you talk Warren into changing for you."

I pulled her hands away and rearranged her hair myself, using the simple mundane take to try and give myself a chance to absorb everything she had told me tonight. She continued to speak though I wasn't able to take much of it in, my mind still coming to terms with the bigger issues.

"Werewolves are bigger," She said. "A lot bigger. They don't look like wolves. They look like really, really big wolves who might eat you."

"Okay," I said, not really having heard anything she had just said, I knew my lawyer's face was in place but that was more because I wasn't sure what I was feeling than because I wanted to hide it from Mercy. "Warren's a werewolf."

She sighed "He couldn't tell you." I almost interrupted to asked why exactly he couldn't tell me but she explained it before I could. "If I tell you, and you don't do anything stupid, you and he are both safe." Which was reassuring at least. "But if he told you, no matter how you reacted, he would have disobeyed a direct order. The penalty for that is brutal."

I kept my face blank but on the inside a small part of me was beginning to understand, Warren had kept this secret because he'd be punished if he didn't, I assumed that the penalty was a very painful beating if not worse. So he'd lied to save himself that pain and possibly save me from been killed. One thing bugged me about that though. "Won't his pack," I stumbled over that word a little it was so strange to apply a word I knew related to animals to people instead. "Won't they think he told me?"

"A lot of werewolves can smell a lie," She told me, which would explain why Warren always knew when I was trying to set up a surprise for him. "They'll know how you found out."

I noticed Mercy was shiver and realised that was because I left the trench coat on the swing. I went back for it and she followed me. I passed it to her and then sat down again, she pulled it back on before settling beside me.

I decided that I want to know more, I needed to know more. If I knew more then maybe I would be able to understand Warren better and maybe things between us could survive this. "Tell me about werewolves."

Mercy immediately launched into a description of werewolf life, starting with the difference between a lone wolf and pack wolf, explaining that Warren had been a lone wolf for a very long time until he had met her and she had then introduced him to Adam and his pack. Her description of how dangerous life could be for a lone wolf lead into a description of how dangerous werewolves in general could be, with a side trip into her own up bringing when I demanded to know how she knew so much about this secret werewolf world. She was just getting on to why it wasn't a good idea to annoy high ranking wolves, especially by flirting with them, when her phone rang.

From the tone of the conversation there was only one thing it could be. "Business?"

"Yes." She bit her lip and looked as though she was torn between needing to go and take care of this business and wanting to continue explaining things to me to be sure I understood.

While I appreciated the sentiment my poor brain had taken in just about all it could at the moment and needed time to process everything. "It's all right." I assured her with a smile. "I think I've heard enough secrets for one day. I take it you need to go back to Warren's?"

"Don't talk to him yet, wait for it to sink in." That was exactly what I had been planning on doing, besides it wasn't a conversation I wanted to have with several other werewolves there. "If you have other questions, you can call me."

"Thanks, Mercy." I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and led the way back to the car, I appreciated the offer but it wasn't what I needed. "But I think I need to talk the rest out with Warren, after his business is finished."

That was what I needed, to talk it out with Warren, to have him be the one to explain it to me because when it came down to it this wasn't about werewolves, although that was a significant factor. What it was really about was me and him, how his been a werewolf affected everything and where we could go from here. Besides that I _wanted_ to hear it from him, now that I knew surely there was law against him giving me further details. Details that I needed before I could decide if Warren and I had a future together, I'd like to think we did but I wasn't sure anymore.

One thing was sure though as I looked at the lights of Warren's house after I dropped Mercy off, a part of me wished it had been drug dealers.

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Apologies for any errors and please leave me a review.


	3. Moon Called Part 3

AN: Sorry about the longer than usual wait but things in life have been rather hectic, still since it's my birthday I decided to be kind and put this chapter up, hopefully if everything goes well today (and it's not just my bday that's the issue) then I'll be able to get you another chapter up by then end of the week)

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Moon Called – Part 3

Mercy called me a week or so after that night in the park to let me know that the business had been concluded, everything had been sorted out and it was safe again. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. On the one hand I was grateful that the danger had passed and Warren and Mercy were safe aging but on the other hand I wish there was still danger because without it I had no excuse for putting off talking to Warren.

"Thank you for telling me Mercy." I said into the phone as I lay back against my ridiculously comfortable couch and stared at the blank TV screen. "Did everyone make it out alright?"

"Well I have a broken arm but other than that we're all in one piece." She said, "I know you're asking about Warren and he did get into a fight with Darryl but neither of them was badly hurt and it secured his place in the pack because he was fighting to keep an order given by Adam."

"I could pretend that any of this pack structure nonsense makes sense to me but it really doesn't." I admitted, I also didn't particularly like the pack structure since I had no doubt it was what gave Daryl the ability to treat Warren like shit and never have him complain.

"You have to be a wolf really." Mercy admitted, "But been a coyote helps. When are you going to talk to Warren?"

I sighed and shook my head even though she couldn't see it. "I don't know, soon."

"You need to." She told me.

"I know, I was thinking of asking him out to dinner and then going back to either his place or mine to talk. I know we can't talk about this in a public place."

"You may be able to soon," Mercy told me, "The Marrok is going to being them out into the public eye soon, very soon."

"How soon is that?"

"A matter of months, maybe weeks."

"So soon?" I asked surprised. I really hoped that the Marrok, who I assumed was the guy in charge of the werewolves, would do a better job at protecting the werewolves better than how ever was in charge of the fae had done.

A future between myself and Warren was uncertain but I didn't want what happened to the fae to happen to him. I remembered the news coverage of the assaults, the vandalism, and the arson attacks. And worse, the bombings and murder, some of which was still going on. It was the reason that Mercy owned her garage, her old boss and mentor had been forced public, several years after most of the fae, and he knew that it would be the end of the life he'd have. So he retired before he went public and sold his garage to Mercy.

"Bran told me their existence is almost an open secret." Mercy told me, who Bran was I didn't know but I assumed he was someone important, perhaps even the Marrok she had mentioned before. "He wants to take them public before they are forced, it will be better that way."

"I agree." Been a lawyer I know that there are times when it is better to volunteer something, that way people are less likely to asked to many questions or probe as deeply as they would otherwise do, allowing you to keep some secrets.

I sighed, "I'll talk to him soon than, I'd rather do it before they are exposed."

"Not all of them will be, and I don't think Warren will be among the selected few. I know Adam is but I think the rest of the pack will be kept out of the public eye for the moment."

"That's good to know." I didn't want Warren caught up in it if it could be helped.

"I need to go." Mercy told me, "I'm supposed to be doing paper work."

"I'll talk to you another time." I told her, "I hope your arm is better soon."

"Bye." She hung up and I sat looking at the phone for several long minutes before I summoned the courage to dial his number.

"Hello Warren, it's Kyle. We need to talk, what are you doing tonight?"

We went out to dinner that night and though we went to one of our favourite restaurants and managed to keep the conversation flowing it was tense and we stuck to neutral topics. Afterwards we walked to my car and I paused, "Do you want to go to your place or mine?"

"I don't care." Warren said, he'd been subdued all evening and I knew he was worried about the conversation that was coming. So was I but there was no way we could avoid it, if we wanted this relationship to have a chance of surviving then we must talk.

"Let's go to yours." I had a feeling Warren might be more comfortable there, wild wolves tended to be more comfortable in their own territory. And as a secondary motive if we were at his then I could leave whenever I wanted

We drove in silence to Warren's house, each of us lost in our own thoughts, after I parked and he led us inside and into the lounge. As we sat down I remembered the last time I had been there, a week ago, the night Mercy and Dr Cornick had brought and injured Adam in and I had learnt that the man I was in love with wasn't exactly the man I thought he was. I was also reminded that everyone in that house bar Mercy and myself were werewolves and there were another two dozen running around the city.

We sat next to each other on his couch, somehow no matter how much I tidied and straightened up his place Warren's house always managed to look like a student house, and not one of the expensive frat houses either.

We sat for several minutes in silence before Warren sighed and admitted, "I don't know where to begin."

I glanced at him, he was leaning forward on his knees with his hands clasped, rather than looking at me he was looking at has hands.

"When my clients come to me." I said softly, "They often say the same thing and I tell them to start at the beginning."

"Alright then." Warren said shooting a quick glance and a shy smile at me, the same shy smile that I fell in love with, a smile that he only ever showed to me. "I was born in Texas in 1869."

When Warren had finished his confession it was well into the morning hours, he'd been talking for hours and I had hardly interrupted him. Once he started talking the words seemed to come easier and easier. He told me about his early life growing up on the ranch his father owned with his brothers and sisters. Even then he'd never quite fitted in, when the other boys his age began courting the girls of the town he hadn't felt any desire to do so, feeling more down to the men of the town. However the society he grew up in wasn't one that allowed behaviour such as that so he repressed what he was feeling and threw himself into helping his parents with the ranch.

As his siblings married and moved away to set up their own homes Warren had stayed, his mother had been heard to stay that he was welcome to remain her son as long as he wanted to, his brothers and sisters were providing her with plenty of grandchildren. Several years later when Warren had been in his early thirties he had been out with the cattle all day and it was after dark when he was attacked while riding home.

Warren didn't know what had saved him or how he had survived but he healed quickly, far quicker than he should have. It had just been fortunate that his parents had been visiting his youngest sister who was expecting her long awaited first child the night of the next full moon.

The next morning, when he found himself covered in blood, the house almost destroyed and half the cattle slaughtered. He had left immediately. He knew he was too dangerous to stay. His parents assumed that he had been killed in what ever had destroyed the house and killed their livestock.

He had no pack or Alpha to help him gain control over his wolf, instead he had been forced to do it by himself. And even afterwards he had been ostracised from the werewolf pack structure. No one wanted him because he was gay and something about that upset the pack stability, I didn't exactly understand what he meant. That had changed after he met Mercy.

She had introduced him to Adam and his life had changed. Adam didn't care about his orientation only that he could follow orders, the rest of the pack hadn't been welcoming but Warren didn't care. Adam had given him a pack, a family. And for that Warren would be forever loyal to him, which was why Mercy had taken the injured Adam to his home, because she knew that he could be trust, above all in the pack, to not be a traitor.

After Warren finished I had to leave. I had no choice, my mind needed time to process everything and I couldn't do that with him there. His description of the aftermath of his first transformation really drove home what Mercy had been trying to tell me the previous week, werewolves were dangerous. Warren was dangerous.

I stood and walked away without a word, what could I sat in response to everything he had just told me? Before I drove away I glanced back at the house, Warren was silhouetted in the doorway, a devastated look on his face. I couldn't look and turned away, leaving my lover behind.

A month and a half later when the first werewolves were revealed to the world I held my peace, though media stations and papers clamoured for interviews with the werewolves and people who knew them, I refused to drag Warren into it. As Mercy said, he was not one of those who had revealed himself, though Adam was, and I didn't want to force that on him. No matter how things stood between us.

I also knew that what the public was told about the werewolves was the truth only in the way that an abridged version of Dracula is the original novel. It was basically accurate but there were huge sections missing. Still out of respect to Warren and Mercy, who while not a werewolf herself was still intimately connect to them and their world, I kept quiet about that as well. Sometimes complete honesty was not the best policy.

Speaking of honesty, things between Warren and I were strained to say the least. We'd been on another date since but it had been only marginally less stressful than the previous one.

Slowly my brain was beginning to accept that maybe Warren wasn't a big bad monster, that he was still the man I fell in love with. But it was a slow process; he had painted for too vivid a picture of what it meant to be a werewolf for me to easily accept him. But it was a slow process and at the current rate we'd be old men by the time I got over this, well I'd be an old man, Warren didn't age. Yet another thing to consider.

However until I had sorted everything out I couldn't take him back, but at the same time I still loved him and didn't want anyone else. It was an impasse and it looked set to remain for a long time yet.

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AN: That takes us past the end of Moon Called but have no fear, as anyone who actually bothered to read to note at the top will realise this story will continue through Blood Bound and that section will be considerably longer since there's a lot more about Warren and Kyle in that book.


	4. Blood Bound Part 1

AN: This chapter is dedicated to my new cousin, Sarah Elizabeth, who was born today (8th July) and to her older sister Chloe Anne, who will be annoyed if she doesn't get her name on here to.

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I was in my car driving back to the office after an early morning court session. I had hoped that the case would have been over the previous day but the opposition had decided they had some last minute points they would like to put forward and in the end the Judge had adjourned until this morning. Mercifully it had been a short session, the judge had dismissed the husband's claim to a vintage record collection, pointing out that I had submitted evidence that my client had owned the collection before they had met let alone before they had married.

The Judge had ended up ruling in our favour, my client had been ecstatic, she was a nice woman who had been foolish enough to marry a pig-headed idiot and then stuck with him through the lies that had followed the first two affairs. She's filed for divorce after the third. Cheating was never a good thing in a relationship and lies didn't help either.

Even if he didn't had a choice.

I swore. Everything these days seemed to lead back to him. Warren. My werewolf sort-of-ex. He'd lied to me, by omission if not commission, and when I'd found out the truth I'd decided that I needed some space and even if I hadn't properly ended the relationship it had certainly lost a lot of its intimacy when I'd move back to my own house. That had been several months ago.

_"__If he told you, no matter how you reacted, he would have disobeyed a direct order. The penalty for that is brutal." _

Mercy's words from months ago echoed in my mind, she'd been the one to tell me because Warren was forbidden by order of his Alpha and the Alpha of Alphas, someone Warren had called the Marrok when he had explained some of it to me. Mercy wasn't a werewolf she was something else, something that was native to America, like the Native Americans she was partly descended from, because of that she was safe from reprisals for breaking the law, provided I kept quiet.

And I had kept quite, Mercy had warned me that if I told anyone she and I would both be killed, and Warren would die trying to protect us, especially me. So as far as I know there hadn't been any reprisals against either of them but I could well imagine that when she had said Warren's punishment would be brutal what she had meant was fatal. A society could only keep itself secret if threats were eliminated and the cause was not allowed to repeat.

After Mercy's explanation and Warren's subsequent confession the relationship between us had become strained. Until that point we had been living together at Warren's house but after everything I had learnt I felt that I had no choice but to move back to my own place. I needed the space. We had dated a few times, each time the tension between use lessening a small degree, but at the current rate the two of use would be back to how we used to be sometime around the next ice age.

That said Warren had done some work for me over the last week or two after quitting his job at the gas station during a management change over. It was nothing major, just some surveillance jobs and on one occasion acting as a body guard for a woman who was scared of her now ex husband. Though it was only casual it had brought us into contact more that at any other time since the revelation. But I couldn't let him back into my affections.

Mercy was still my friend and she had told me that at first Warren had taken our separation hard. After I had left, just after he had told me everything about his past, Warren had shifted into his wolf form and stayed that way for several days, just curled up in the living room, whimpering. The mental image that her words had conjured were almost enough to send me round there but the wounds to my heart that had been caused by Warren's lies were still raw and I had stayed home. Though I had promised Mercy that I just needed space, that our relationship wasn't over yet. She said Warren had been better after she told him that I didn't consider us finished.

Almost as if summoned by my thoughts my phone rang, it was Marie Willows my super efficient and amazingly well organised office manager. "Mr Brooks, you have a call from Ms Thompson."

"Put her through." Mercy was one of the few people who were on what I liked to call my VIP list, people who were to be put through to my cell when I wasn't around the office. It was a tragically short list, apart from the two other lawyers I work with the main people on this list were my sister Ally, Warren and Mercy. I wondered why she was calling but I had a sinking feeling that there was something wrong and if she was the one calling then there was only one likely person it was about. I masked my worry as her call was routed to my phone and I greeted her with. "What's up, Mercy?"

Her answer made my insides freeze with fear, "Warren's hurt. I don't know how badly, but Adam called in the troops."

There was pretty much only one thought on my mind and that was to get to Warren as quickly as possible, he'd told me werewolves heal quickly so if he was so injured that Mercy sounded that worried then it must be bad. Nothing was going to stop me going to him, not distance or a pack of werewolves, nothing. "I'm in my car near Twenty-seventh and 395. Where is Warren?"

"At Adam's house." That was easy enough, I knew where Adam lived, though I'd never been to his house he lived next to Mercy and I'd been over to hers a few times with Warren.

"I'll be there shortly." I told her as I put my foot on the gas, I flipped my phone shut and tossed it on the passenger seat. I was going well above the speed limit but I didn't care, well I did to the extent that getting stopped would delay me in getting to Warren, but I had no worries about speeding tickets, that was only money and been a lawyer I had plenty of it, what mattered was Warren.

The thought of loosing him, and I knew from Mercy's tone of voice that it was bad, suddenly made everything clear. None of it mattered, what he was and the lies he'd told, told to protect me as much as anything else, none of it mattered. I loved him and nothing was going to change that. And he bloody well was not allowed to die before I got a chance to tell him that. No, I corrected myself as I skidded to a halt outside Adam's house, Warren was not allowed to die, period.

I jogged up behind Mercy as she was arguing with some idiot werewolf who seemed to be guarding the door. He was shaking his head at whatever Mercy had just said, "My orders are no one but pack."

"She _is _pack, Elliot, you moron," A blond woman said as she walked up behind the Neanderthal guarding the door, I thought she might be the Honey that Warren had mentioned a few times, "Adam's claimed her as his mate, which you very well know. Let her in." I didn't really understand much of what she had said, nor did I care, what I cared about was the fact that she grabbed the idiot and pulled him out of the way, Mercy grabbed my arm and pulled me past Neanderthal-wolf before he had a chance to object further.

"This is Kyle." Mercy introduced me as she pulled me towards the stairs.

"Hello, Kyle." The blond said softly. "Warren's told me about you." That almost made me smile, she clearly cared about Warren, her smeared mascara was testament to that, and it was good that he had some friends in this pack of his, but a part of me was so very happy that he had been talking about me to the others. I thought of it like how Warren was the only boyfriend I'd told my sister Ally about, after all he'd said the pack was like his family.

She didn't follow us up stairs but Mercy seemed to know where she was going, I figured she was following a scent or something but even I could have guessed that Warren was probably in the room that was guarded by Darryl, the only one other than Adam that Warren had to obey according to the pack structure, I didn't understand but that seemed to make him a complete ass to Warren. Either that or he just didn't like gays, Warren did say that was an issue in the pack.

Whatever the reason he frowned at Mercy, he probably wasn't happy that I was there but I didn't care by that point. He was standing between me and Warren and I would gladly take him apart if I had to so I could get to Warren. In hindsight not a sensible thing to consider given that he was a werewolf and I'm only human but that fact that the thought not only crossed my mind but stayed there for several moments is probably a fair testament to my state of mind at that exact moment.

Before I could do anything stupid Mercy spoke up, "Go rescue Honey from that idiot who was trying to keep me out." So I had been right, the blond was Honey and now it seemed she'd be getting into trouble for helping us, no doubt again due to this pack dominance structure that only werewolves seemed to understand.

Darryl hesitated for a moment until Adam's command from inside the room sent him scurrying down the stairs.

I pushed open the door and froze at what I saw the thing on the bed barely looked alive let alone human but I knew it was Warren, in spite of so little been left that was actually recognisable a part of me recognised him like he was calling out to me. I was vaguely aware that I was blocking the door, causing Mercy to have to duck round me to get into the room.

It wasn't until they looked at me that I realised that there was anyone else in the room despite the fact that I had heard Adam's voice less than thirty seconds ago, he nodded as if he approved of my presence, a very small part of me wondered about he bandage on his arm but for the large part, once I was sure he wasn't going to throw me out, I didn't care about him.

The other werewolf I also recognised, we'd met the night Mercy told me about Warren and the other werewolves, Dr Samuel Cornick. He was also Mercy's roommate, a fact she still wasn't all that happy about months after he had first moved in.

He was bent over Warren, his experienced doctor's hands threading a needle back and forth though torn flesh, piecing the man I loved back together. Looking up from his work for a moment he locked gaze with me and jerked his chin towards the head of the bed, "Talk to him," He ordered. "He can make it if he wants to badly enough. You just need to give him a reason." He turned to Mercy, "Stay out of my way unless I ask you for something."

Completely heedless of the blood and fact that it would ruin my slacks, I could afford more what was money compared to Warren's life? I knelt at the head of the bed and started telling Warren about my time in Little League.

Warren was always curious about my life while I was growing up, before I knew what he was and how old he was I had often wondered why but now I understood. My life while I was growing up was so different to what it had been for him that he often asked questions about the most random parts of my childhood and seemed to get a kick out of my more embarrassing incidents.

Normally I wasn't very forth coming with such stories, they were embarrassing after all, but now I told them freely, freely telling him about what he always wanted to know was the only thing I could think of to talk about, to keep him with me and give him the will to fight. Well I suppose I could have told him that I still loved him and wanted him back but I drew the line at confessing something so personal with even Mercy in the room, let alone two men I barely knew.

I was vaguely aware that the other three were discussing what had happened, something about vampires and that the other people he'd been with were still missing, possibly in worse shape than Warren was, though the only worse shape I could image was dead, and I nearly broke of my narrative when I realised that that was exactly what the other three in the room feared had happened. It pained me to realise that I didn't even know how Warren had been injured, what he had been doing. And that it was my fault.

Yes I had needed space to sort out my feelings but I had pushed Warren away further than I needed to and for far longer than was necessary. It was my hurt pride that had kept me away from him and I would never forgive myself if that pride meant that I never got to tell him I loved him and hear him say it in return.

The main points that I picked out were that this had happened the previous night but Warren hadn't been found until recently, that a silver knife had been used and that he wasn't healing as quickly as he should be, his body was simply overloaded from trying to heal everything at once.

Somehow I managed not to freeze when Warren stopped breathing, even as I heard Dr Cornick swear I was reacting on instinct and an almost forgotten collage first aid course. I tilted Warren's chin back and pressed my lips to his forcing air into his lungs, I was half conscious that the doctor had stopped what he had been doing and was beside me and had started chest compressions meaning that Warren's heart had stopped as well.

The main thing that I knew was that if I stopped what I was doing Warren would be gone and I wasn't prepared to let him go. He was going to stay and heal, and then we were going to talk and I was going to beg his forgiveness for pushing him away and he'd apologise for lying to me and we'd both laugh about it before ending up in bed making it up to each other. But the only way that was going to happen was if he started breathing again, if he lived and I would be damned if I didn't do everything in my power and then some to make sure he did. If I lost him then I would go after the thing that had killed him and I didn't care if it killed me to, it would probably hurt less than loosing Warren.

I felt Dr Cornick pull me away from Warren and he said something, I just stared at him. My mind seemed unable to understand what he had said and he was forced to repeat himself several times before my poor brain could comprehend that I could stop now, that Warren was breathing on his own again.

I glanced to the side to see for myself the steady rise and fall of his battered chest and then back to Dr Cornick, "He'll be all right?" I asked, my tone full of my desperate need for my question to be the truth.

"He's breathing on his own, and his heart is beating" He said

I knew that wasn't exactly a confirmation that he was going to be alright but for now I'd happily take what I could get. Give the alternative the fact that he was breathing and his heart was beating was about the best news I could be give. I sank back to the carpet next to the head of the bed and resumed my story as if I had never been interrupted, I kept my voice light, the same tones I used to use when Warren and I were relaxing on his old sofa, trading stories about our days, my clients' bitchy soon-to-be-ex husbands and his idiot customers. But, though I kept my voice light I knew my face betrayed my worry and stress, I knew we weren't out of the woods yet by a long shot.

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Any spelling errors are mine and failed to be picked up by Word, so blame me or Microsoft. (I'm also English so I use British English which means some of my spelling may be strange to American readers.)

Please Read and Review


	5. Blood Bound Part 2

AN: Thanks to everyone that's reviewed I just wanted to let you know that this is probably going to be the last update until autumn, I'm having serious tech problems (both hinges on my laptop just snapped for a start), and I'm rather busy this month in addition to that, so my apologies in advance.

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Dr Cornick returned to his task of trying to put Warren back together, something that I ignored in case it made me sick, and I knew that Mercy and Adam were discussing what had done this and how to stop it.

A demon had done this, a demon had almost taken Warren from me and now Mercy wanted to go after it, knowing her she wanted to go alone as well. I couldn't help but stare even as I continued to tell Warren one of my misadventures in Little League, and eventually Mercy noticed.

"Did you think that werewolves were the worst monster in the world?" She asked in a nasty tone, "There are a lot worse things out there. Vampires, demons, and all sorts of nasties and the only thing that stands between the humans and them are people like Warren." I knew she was angry and just taking it out on me because I was a convenient target but that still stung. Because it was partly true, I had had some issues about Warren been a werewolf, a monster to someone raised on bad horror movies, but it had hurt just as much, if not more, that he had lied to me.

"Mercy, shh." Adam told her.

I might have been tempted to say something but I knew it wouldn't help and my worry and fear over Warren would probably lead to me saying something I'd regret. But what really sealed my decision was the small fearful noise that Warren made, the first sound he'd made since I entered the room. It was the first time I had ever heard Warren sound truly afraid and that scared me as much as when he'd stopped breathing, I was used to the idea that Warren was the big bad in the dark, the fact that there was something that scared him was terrifying.

"Easy, Warren," Adam told him. "You're safe here."

I felt I had to add my own feelings on the subject, "If you die on us, you won't be," I said in a low voice, and it was true. If Warren died then I was going to follow him and beat the shit out of him for the next few decades, there was no way on Earth he was allowed to leave when I had just realised exactly how much I needed him

I doubt I was the only person that saw the small smile that formed on Warren's lips when he heard my voice and I allowed myself to smile too, clearly he was happy that I was here with him and that made me hopeful that we might have a chance when he was well. And that was a when not an if, there was no way I would allow it to be an if.

As I returned to my story of a particularly memorable match where the opposing team player had nearly broken my leg trying to reach third base before the ball, he hadn't succeeded, Dr Cornick pulled a chair into the room and settled himself at the end of the bed.

He'd obviously decided that he'd done all that he could for he moment and though he seemed to be paying attention only to the floor I had a feeling that he was using the superhuman senses that Warren had told me about to monitor his breathing and heart rate, ideally I wondered how long he could keep it up for.

Warren dozed restlessly after that, every time he became too restless Adam tell him to relax and he would do so, occasionally my hand on his shoulder would have a similar effect.

There was a steady stream of visitors, most of them just seemed to want to check out the damage but a few of them had to be Warren's friends within the pack. They were the ones who stayed for a few seconds longer then the apprising looks the rest gave, I knew the names of several of them but I wasn't paying enough attention to work out who was who and none of them introduced themselves to me. Except for Honey.

She was the only one that came all the way into the room and touched me lightly on the shoulder, "Hello Kyle, I'm Honey." She said softly, "It's nice to finally meet you though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Like wise." I said interrupting my story and turning to look at her, "Warren has spoken of you, it's nice to put a face to a name." She smiled at me and as I turned my attention back to Warren and resumed my story she settled against the wall next to me.

A while later another man entering the room caught my attention, it wasn't so much what he did as what Adam and the others did, I saw Mercy tense and felt Honey do the same beside me, Dr Cornick didn't appear to move but I had a feeling that he was prepared for trouble.

Adam stepped between the man and Warren for which I was grateful, the hint of excitement and anticipation on his face was sickening. I knew what he was if not who, he must be one of the wolves that didn't approve of Warren, that hated him because he was gay and wanted him out of the pack, or better yet dead.

Adam stared at the other man without words until he backed away, the last time I'd seen something like that it had been in a nature documentary, an alpha wolf staring down a lower raking animal. With a start I realised that's what I was seeing, this wolf wanted to kill Warren and Adam, the Alpha, had just reminded him of his place.

"When he is well," Adam said, "If you give fair challenge, Paul, I won't stop the fight."

I tried not to be sickened or worry too much, Warren was a good fighter. He told me he had to be to survive so many years alone and being gay didn't help matters. At the time he'd been explaining why the pack as so important to a wolf and that it was partly for the protection it offered to its members, without that protection he had to be tough or he wouldn't have lasted a decade, let alone the century or more he had done.

So it wasn't so much that I was worried for him, just for the idea that another fight, potentially to the death, would be heading his way so soon after I nearly lost him. But another thing he'd told me was that he was high ranked in the pack and sometimes he was forced to fight to prove that he was worthy of that rank, but just I knew it was the way of a werewolf pack didn't mean I had to like it.

The other wolf seemed pleased at Adam's promise and left. When Warren was well again, and I knew from his intense focus that Dr Cornick still considered that an if, I hoped Warren kicked that upstart bastard's ass all the way to the East Coast. A coward too, if the fact that he had not challenged Warren until he was half dead was anything to go by, I really hoped Warren taught him a good hard lesson. If I was a werewolf I'd have happily done it for him.

I glance around and realised that Mercy and Adam had left, I could still hear a faint murmur of their voices so I knew that they were still nearby, in fact I was certain that the werewolves in the room, at least the two who were still conscious, could hear every word that was been said.

I also noticed that there was someone else in the room, a teenage girl, her red eyes telling that she had been crying recently. I knew who she was even before she introduced herself, Warren had mentioned her several times, Adam's human daughter Jesse. Apparently Warren ended up getting stuck with the babysitting fairly regularly since he was one of the few wolves that Adam trusted implicitly with the safety of his daughter.

She came over and crouched beside me, she seemed oblivious to the blood but I supposed that growing up in a house full of werewolves she had been her fair share of it. "Hi, you're Warren's Kyle aren't you? I'm Jesse" She said holding out her hand which I took. I liked been called Warren's Kyle. "Is he going to be alright?" She glanced worriedly at Warren.

"The good doctor," I gestured towards the foot of the bed where Dr Cornick kept his vigil, "Is still in some doubt but I won't let him die."

She smiled, "Good." She looked at Warren and then back to me, "He's missed you, you know? Missed you a lot." I had a feeling that there was more to what she was saying, that her words meant something else to the werewolves but I didn't know what.

"I missed him too." I admitted softly.

"Then why all this?" I assumed she didn't mean our current location but the situation between Warren and I in general.

"Because I'm an idiot."

She didn't seem inclined to argue about that but stayed quiet, I returned to my stories about Little League, and when I eventually ran out of those I went on to my misadventures at school, I had been a rather clumsy child for a while.

Even though I was focused on Warren I was aware that Mercy and Adam had returned, Jesse left not long after that and Mercy eventually sat down against the wall by the door. Only Adam remained standing, also by the door, as if they were both some sort of guard, which I figured they probably were. When Warren was well again we were going to have a long talk during which he would be explaining all of this pack structure shit to me.

An hour or so had passed when one of the wolves entered the room, I turned when I heard his footsteps and saw Adam nod to him before he approached me, he held out my phone and my car keys. "It's been ringing on and off for the last hour so I though I better bring it up, you also left your keys in the ignition so I locked the car up."

I took both the phone and the keys from him, "Thank you." I paused since I didn't know his name.

"Peter." I realised I recognised the name, Warren had mentioned him. He was Honey's husband and one of the few submissives in the pack, whatever that last part meant.

"Thank you Peter." I repeated, he nodded and left, his wife following. I flipped the phone open and there were several missed calls, all from the office.

I sighed and dialled the number. "Hello Marie."

"Mr Brooks, I've been trying to get in touch with you for nearly two hours, is everything alright?"

I sighed, "No it really isn't." I told her truthfully, I could almost feel Mercy, Adam and Dr Cornick watching me, waiting to see what I would say. "Cancel everything for today and tomorrow at least."

"Of course sir, has something happened?" I could hear the faint clicking of her keyboard as she typed.

"There's been an accident, Warren's been hurt." I told her truthfully looking at the battered and bloodied body on the bed, "That's what Mercy called about earlier, it's still touch and go." I heard my voice catch on the final part, "I need to be here."

"I'm so sorry." Marie said sincerely, "I hope everything is alright and he gets well soon. I've cleared your appointments for the next two days."

"Good, can you let Mark and Georgi know what's going on?" I asked, my two partners in the firm deserved to know where I was, "But only call if it's critical."

"Of course sir, I hope everything is alright."

"So do I." I told her as I hung up and pushed the cell and my car keys into my pocket, never turning my attention from Warren, I decided that my stories could use a change of pace and started to tell him some anecdotes from my cases over the last few months.

Mercy left a few hours later, Samuel, after a whole day of hearing him called that and his saving Warren's life it was easy to think of him as that rather than Dr Cornick, was staying the night and so was I. It would take far more than a pack of werewolves to get me to leave Warren's bedside let alone the house.

Warren drifted in an out of consciousness for the rest of the day and through the night, when he was semiconscious he was very agitated as if there was something he desperately wanted or needed to tell us but couldn't. Samuel seemed to think there was some damage to his vocal cords. That worried me, the external damage was bad enough, I didn't even want to think about the internal damage.

As the evening turned into night the house started to empty, most of the wolves coming upstairs to say good night to Adam before they left, a few enquiring after Warren's health. Both Samuel and Adam remained at their posts, Samuel monitoring Warren and Adam guarding the door. I could tell from the sounds that a few wolves remained down stairs and I think Adam was guarding Warren from them, there was no other explanation for his remaining at the door rather than finding his own bed.

I was dozing with my head against Warren's bed when I was roused by the sound of Samuel's cell. Whoever was on the other end didn't give him a chance to say anything, they said what they wanted to and then hung up. Samuel grabbed Adam's arms and said "Let's go." Adam didn't fight him and allowed the other man to lead us out of the room leaving me alone with Warren for the first time.

They had ignored me completely and that was not something I was accustomed to.

Still I wasn't about to waste the chance to talk to Warren with some semblance of privacy, I know there were other wolves in the house and no doubt they could hear me but I didn't care, we were mostly alone.

"Warren love, I know you can hear me." I said softly. He stirred slightly and I took that as confirmation. "I love you, this had made me realise just how much I need you. You are my world Warren and if you die then I will have no choice but to follow you. I told Mercy that months ago and that has not changed. None of it matters to me any more, what you are, what you told me or didn't tell me. None of that matters. All that matters is that I love you. And I want us to be together again, properly together, if you'll have me."

I leant forward and pressed a kiss to a part of his forehead that seemed relatively unbruised. "If that doesn't keep you here with me than I don't know what will." I settled back on the floor and took his hand gently in mine, "I'm not letting go Warren, so if you die you'll have to take me with you." Perhaps it was my imagination but I thought I felt a slight pressure on my hand in answer.

I settled my head more comfortably against the mattress and allowed myself to fall asleep, Warren's hand still in mine.

I was woken in the early hours by a gun shot, a glance at my watch showed it was half past five in the morning. The shout sounded like it had come from directly outside the house and since the room I was in was at the back of the house, directly opposite Mercy's house, I dragged myself away from Warren's side for the first time since I had entered the room and went to the window.

I couldn't see anything in the dark, dawn was just beginning to lighten the eastern horizon. But it didn't take long for a crowd of worried neighbours to gather at Mercy's and I knew that the shots had come from there. The lack of ambulance and police assured me that she was alright.

A man slipped out of the back door of Adam's house and over the fence onto Mercy's land, he returned a few minutes later and that further convinced me that Mercy's had suffered no harm. I might not understand this whole pack concept but I did understand that Mercy, although not a wolf, was in some way a part of it and if she had been harmed they would have been over there in force.

I returned to Warren's side and dozed for a further hour until the sound of the door opening caused me to look up. It was Darryl, "He's still alive." He stated.

"Yes." I doubted my answer was required or wanted but I gave it anyway, "He's been in and out of it all night and he's agitated when he's awake, I think he wants to say something but Samuel said his vocal cords are damaged to he can't."

Darryl looked me over with an assessing eye, "Did you sleep at all?"

"The gun shot at Mercy's woke me." I told him, "Is she alright? What happened?"

"She's well enough to be sending all her neighbours home." Darryl told me but didn't bother telling me what was going on, I was honestly beginning to wonder if the werewolf secrecy was genetic. He closed the door without saying anything else.

My legs were beginning to cramp from having spent all night and most of the previous day on the floor so I dragged Samuel chair to the head of the bed and sat in that instead.

An hour later there was a knock at the door, it was Honey baring a tray of food. "I thought you might be hungry." She said setting it down on the edge of the bed, "Jesse reminded us that since you're a guest we should probably feed you."

"Thank you." I told her, "And thank Jesse too." I realised that it had been nearly twenty-four hours since I had eaten anything and I was hungry.

Honey looked down at Warren, "How is he?"

"No change that I can tell."

"He hadn't woken?" She asked, the concern clear in her voice. I shook my head. "He should have done by now, usually wolves are up and demanding food with in a few hours, he didn't eat anything during the night?"

"No, and he was barely conscious enough to know we were here."

She closed her eyes, "I hope he's alright."

Honey kept vigil with me for the rest of the morning, Darryl came in around half past eight, "Mercy called." He said completely ignoring me and speaking only to Honey, "Adam and Samuel are both missing so now she's planning on going after this vampire all by herself. Her told me to call Bran and let him know what happening." That sounded like Mercy alright, her friends are in danger, hurt or missing so she decides to put herself in harms way to help them, I only hoped that she came out of it with nothing worse then the broken arm she'd managed last time she needed to get a friend out of trouble.

"Then you should call him." Honey was saying, "She is Adam's mate." That was the second time in as many days Honey had said that and I added it to my list of things to asked Warren about when he was well. Then I remembered that Samuel had received a cal just before he and Adam had left.

"Darryl." I started but he cut me off before I could say more than his name.

"Keep out of this, it's werewolf matter and it doesn't concern you, human."

Fine, I thought to myself, be like that. I would simply tell Mercy next time she as here.

"Call if you need me." Darryl told Honey and she seemed to understand what he meant because she bowed her head in acknowledgement. After Darryl had left Honey put her hand on my arm, "Don't mind him, he's just under a lot of stress at the moment with Adam missing along with Samuel and Warren injured."

"I understand that." I told her, "But he needs to understand that this _is_ my concern, Warren was injured because of this and Mercy is going after the cause, that makes it my concern." Honey nodded like she agreed with me and stroked my arm for a few more moments before sitting down on the floor and we both resumed our silent vigil.

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Please Read and Review


	6. Blood Bound Part 3

Sorry about the long delay but I had tech problems, however now I have a new netbook we should be back to something resembling a schedule as far as posting the chapters goes.

WARNING: I have now read Hunting Ground (please don't ask how since it's not out in the UK until next month) so from here on out there may be mild spoilers for that book as well, however those shouldn't appear for a while since Bran and Charles won't be around for a while either.

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Seeing Warren change into his wolf form ranked fairly high on things I was curious to see but not when he was injured. I was certain that he had managed to undo most of Samuel's hard work, ripping out the stitches that he had carefully put in the previous day. Fresh blood now covered the older stains on the sheets from where he had pulled he stitches out and reopened the wounds. As a wolf Warren was huge, his fur was a deep tan colour, where it wasn't matted with blood, he had sharp looking claws and his fangs looked, to me at least, to be about six inches. The scariest part for me though was his eyes, looking into them I couldn't see anything of my human lover, only a mindless and enraged beast.

Darryl was in the room before Warren had completely changed and he put himself between Warren and I, pushing me back towards the wall. Honey had called him when Warren had started to change, from her tone of voice I could tell that Warren changing was both a good thing and a bad thing.

When he was fully in his wolf form, Warren tried to stand. "Lie down Warren." Darryl ordered but the wolf didn't comply and he was a wolf, I could see in his eyes that this was the wolf not Warren, there was little if any of the human man loved in those eyes.

"Warren." And even I could hear the power and authority, "Lie down."

The wolf growled, and I didn't need to a werewolf to understand that growl, he was annoyed. Rather then obeying him as I understood he should be Warren was merely getting annoyed with Darryl. Again he tried to rise and move towards Darryl.

"Shit!" Honey swore as Darryl again tried to order Warren to lie down and again he refused to do so. "Shit, he's not more dominant, Warren was faking it." She seemed very upset and worried by this, but seeing that I didn't understand what was going on she quickly explained, "He's lost control of his wolf and needs a more dominant wolf to help him regain control, Darryl's supposed to be more dominant but," She waved her hand to indicate the scene before us where Darryl was now trying to physically force Warren to stay in the bed, clearly he wasn't more dominant. "We need Adam, or Mercy. Do you have her phone number?"

"Of course."

"Call her, get her here as quick as possible." She told me, Darryl had started swearing in Chinese, my knowledge of most foreign languages is limited but I can still recognise swear words in most of them and even if I couldn't his tone of voice told that whatever he was saying wasn't polite.

I stepped out of the room and found Mercy's number as quickly as a could, I did not like that the sounds coming from inside the room seemed to have become more violent since I stepped out. I was very grateful that she picked up almost immediately. "Mercy."

"You need to get over here." I spoke softly so I could still hear what was going on in the other room, not that it was really necessary, I could probably have been half deaf and still heard the enraged snarls coming from Warren

"They can hear you," I didn't bother telling her that I wasn't trying to stop them over hearing me, I was trying to hear what was going on. "I'll be right over." She promised and hung up.

I slipped my phone back in my pocket and headed back into the Warren's room. "She'll be here as soon as possible." I told Honey, probably unnecessarily since she could likely hear everything Mercy had said. I looked over to the bed where Darryl was managing to keep Warren pinned to the bed by shear force and Warren didn't look happy about it. Remembering that earlier my touch had calmed Warren nearly as well as Adam's order I walked over to the bed.

"You don't want to get too near." Honey said from her place by the door, I wondered why she wasn't helping but I remembered that she was low ranking in the pack and probably couldn't help even though she wanted to.

I ignored her and put my hand on Warren's head. "Warren, relax. It's safe, I'm here." Warren stopped struggling and relaxed back down onto the bed. Darryl released him and I sat down, running my hands through his fur in the same way I pet my sister's dog

"What the hell?" Darryl said backing away.

Honey took a step forwards until she was standing just behind him. "I knew there had to be something wrong with Warren because he's never usually like this even injured." She looked at me sitting on the bed with Warren's head resting against my leg, "He wanted his mate."

Darryl shot me a look that was laced with annoyance, disgust and rejection. "Kyle is not his mate."

Warren raised his head and growled at Darryl, "Warren seems to disagree." Darryl glared at Honey, clearly he'd heard the same thing in her voice that I had, she agreed with Warren. "Maybe we should wait downstairs?" Honey suggested, "It might help keep Warren calm and it doesn't seem like there's anything else we can do." Darryl met her gaze and she immediately dropped it to the floor, however the man seemed to know a good idea when he heard one and left, Honey followed and closed the door behind her.

Warren settled down again once they were gone, "You know, you make quite cute wolf." I said as I resumed petting his head. "And I meant what I said earlier, I want you back. Fur and all." We sat in silence for a while and I wondered how long Mercy was going to be and what exactly Honey thought she could do to help. "I've been so worried about you." I continued threading my fingers through his fir not sure if he was actually understanding me.

"Things are going crazy." I told him, "And I'm caught in the middle with no idea what's going on. You're hurt, Mercy and Adam were talking about vampires and demons, now he's missing along with Samuel and Mercy's out there somewhere playing Buffy."

Something I had said seemed to grab his attention because he started trying to stand again, "Warren, what's the matter?" I asked even knowing that he couldn't answer me. "You need to rest." He ignored me, determined to get out of the bed. "Warren lay back down." He butted me away with his head and managed to push himself to his feet for a moment before one of his forelegs gave out and he collapsed back to the bed. "See what I mean?" I asked rhetorically.

He refused to stay down and kept trying to get up. "Warren!" I finally shouted in exasperation, getting up and standing in front of him. "Get you rear end back in that bed!"

Darryl was in the doorway before I could even think of calling for help, "What happened?"

"He was fine until a minute ago." I told him, "Warren's worried about something other than me, I think it's Adam or Mercy because he started trying to get up after I mentioned them."

"That's not Warren, it's his wolf." Darryl said in a tone that told me he thought I was been a stupid ignorant human. Warren growled at him. "Lie down and be quiet!" Darryl snapped at him, an order Warren again ignored.

"The wolf is Warren and when Warren's worried he can't stay still. Not that I'd expect you to know that." I snapped back at Darryl.

"What do you know human?" Darryl took a step towards me.

"More than you." I snapped back, irritating a werewolf was probably not a good idea but I was past caring, Darryl seemed to dislike Warren and I regardless of what we did and had spent the last day irritating the shit out of me. Behind me Warren growled and tried to get off the bed again.

Darryl moved past me and ordered Warren to lie down, when Warren merely growled Darryl resorted to forcing him to comply. It only seemed to make Warren more and more annoyed, and he began taking snaps at Darryl trying to force the man to let him go. Darryl shouted some very unpleasant sounding phrases in Chinese, but since I'm pretty sure Warren doesn't understand Chinese at the best of times they had little effect.

I went to try and help Darryl but at that exact moment Warren took a swipe at Darryl with his claws, the werewolf ducked out of the way but I wasn't so lucky and he caught me across the chest, sending me crashing into the far wall and shredding my shirt and the skin underneath it. I was momentarily dazed and even after I managed to get back to my feet I leant against the wall trying to catch my breath.

Warren was enraged now, and fighting against Darryl harder than he had been before. Though whether that was because I was injured, or because there were now reduced numbers trying to hold him so he had better odds at escaping, I didn't know but I suspected the former because he now seemed to be trying to get to me. But I was worried, so worried. Not for myself but for Warren, I could see how this could result in him dying if he continued to fight, either death from his injures or because he pushed Darryl too far and the other wolf killed him.

Mercy chose that moment to walk into the room, just as Darryl was roaring at Warren again, "Lie down." Warren's response was to try and take bite out of Darryl's stomach as the man attempted to pin him to the bed.

"You're the highest ranking wolf," Honey whispered to Mercy, I hadn't noticed she was there until she had spoken. "I told Kyle to call you when Darryl just seemed to irritate Warren . He was all right with Kyle until a few minutes ago."

Mercy looked like she didn't believe it but took a deep breath before firmly ordering. "Warren, lie down."

I'm not sure who as more surprised when Warren immediately subsided, Mercy or Darryl, though I wasn't that fair behind the pair of them. The only person who didn't look surprised was Honey.

Darryl let Warren go now he was behaving and sat on the end of the bed. Warren lay limply across the bed his brown fur coated with fresh blood, his eyes locked on me even with his wolf in control he seemed to know me.

"Well," Mercy said still seeming rather shocked. "It's a good sign that he can shift, and he'll heal faster in this form." She looked at me where I was standing, still confused and a little winded, against the wall. "Did he say anything about why Samuel and Adam left?"

"No," I said frowning, I looked at Warren and then back to Mercy. "What did you do?"

She shrugged. "Werewolf politics."

"How did you do this when I could not?" Darryl asked Mercy, I did not like that fact that his eyes were yellow, the same colour as the eyes of Warren's wolf.

"Not my fault," Mercy told him. "Adam didn't even ask me before he claimed me as mate before the pack, I certainly didn't think it was anything more than a way to keep me from getting eaten." Again they were talking and I wasn't understanding. Warren would have a lot of explaining to do when he was well again. "As far as dominance goes, you and Warren will have to sort things out when Adam gets back." She turned to me, "How badly are you hurt?"

I glanced down and quickly assessed my injuries, four scratches but none of them seemed particularly deep so I shook my head "Just a scratch." I looked up at her, "Am I going to howl at the moon, too?"

She shook her head. "It's not that easy to become a werewolf. He'd have had to nearly kill you. A scratch wouldn't do it."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that, whether I was relived or disappointed, I was more concerned about Warren and how he was doing. I was sure that I'd be able to sort out what I was feeling when I had a chance to stop and think but there hadn't been much time for anything but worry for Warren over the last day or so.

"We're going to have to move him down to the safe room," Mercy said, turning her attention to Darryl.

What the safe room was exactly I didn't know but I assumed it was a cage of some description where they could lock Warren up so he couldn't hurt himself or anyone else.

"We can leave him on the mattress," Honey suggested. "Darryl and I can carry him down the stairs."

They did that and Mercy and I followed then down. "We have no choice." Mercy told me. "Warren's lost control of his wolf."

"I know." I told her, "Honey explained a little of it to me earlier, just before she told me to call you."

"Well without a more dominant wolf here he could loose control again and potentially kill someone."

"With the state he's in he's more likely to get himself killed." I corrected her.

"All the more reason to keep him locked up." She said, "If I could stay here then we wouldn't need to but I can't, I need to find Adam, Samuel, Stefan and Ben before anyone else is hurt. The bars of the cage are silver coated, it won't hurt him but it will stop him from getting out."

We reached the basement then and there was a cage there, Honey and Darryl placed the mattress inside and then backed off, waiting by the stairs. I walked over and knelt next to him, stroking his head and scratching behind his ear.

"Kyle," Mercy said from where she was standing next to the door, "You can't stay in here." I walked over to where she was standing.

"He didn't hurt me on purpose, I was trying to help Darryl keep him down." I told her.

"It'll get worse before it gets better."

"He didn't hurt me before."

"I don't want to have to explain to Warren why we let him eat you." She said firmly. "Look, you can sit in this couch right here and stay all day." She grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me out of the cage, closing and locking the door behind us. It was only after she had pointed it out that I noticed there was a couch there, along with a matching easy chair and a big-screen TV. I wondered for a moment how long the werewolves tended to stay down here.

"It'll only be for the day," Darryl said his voice still rough so I guessed he wasn't happy. "He'll be well enough to be on his own tonight."

I ignored the seating and sat down next to the bars, leaning against them. I know it was probably not the safest place for me to be, but Warren had not meant to hurt me, he'd been aiming for Darryl. A sentiment that I at times shared.

"I have to go," I heard Mercy say to Darryl at the top of the stairs, I strained to hear what she was saying. "I'm still trying to locate Adam and Samuel. Can you handle it from here?"

It was Honey that answered not Darryl. "We'll be all right." She said softly.

"They won't accept him as second." That was Darryl.

"You can sort it out with Adam when he gets back." Mercy at least seemed to have some faith that everything would be alright and I took comfort in that.

It was a while later that Jesse came down carrying first aid supplies and a fresh tee shirt. "We should get those cuts cleaned up."

"You're probably right." I told her, shifting away from the bars and beginning to unbutton my shredded and bloody shirt, my slacks were blood stained as well but since they were black it didn't show up all that much.

"He got you good, didn't he?" Jesse said as she helped me take the shirt off, I winced a little where the dried blood had caused the fabric stick to the wounds. "No one thought to make sure you were alright, they're used to dealing with werewolves who heal quickly, but we still always have a well stocked first aid kit in the house."

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked.

"It's out for the summer." She told me as she started cleaning the cuts across my chest, the antiseptic stung a little.

"What about your mother?" I asked.

"That's a sour subject at the moment." She told me, "She fell in love again and ran off to Italy with him, she didn't even bother telling me when she was coming back, if she was coming back. I thought at least call me so I didn't tell dad, I didn't want to bother him because he's been so busy since the wolves came out. He called me though, three days after she left and he was furious with her. He insisted I come here immediately, bought me the plane ticket and cancelled the trip to LA that he was supposed to be going on."

"That's terrible." I told her, "But it's good that your father cares for you."

"Yours disowned you didn't he?" She'd clearly been talking to Warren.

"They both did." I told her as she started on the bandages. "But at least I still have my sister."

"I'm an only child." She said, "My mom had four miscarriages, I was the lucky one."

"So many?" I was surprised.

"Not unusual when the father's a werewolf. But mom always used it against him to get her own way, as if they didn't hurt him as much as her."

"No offence but she sounds like a cow."

"She abandoned me so I'm not arguing." Jesse sounded bitter. "And now dad's missing." She fastened the end of the bandage with a slightly savage stab of a safety pin which just about missed my skin. "And no one will tell me anything."

"I know what you mean." I told her. "Darryl seems to hate me and spends most of his time ignoring me."

"You'd think information was gold around here." Jesse complained, "I'm his daughter and no one will tell me what's going on, well Darryl said Mercy's out looking for them."

"She is." I told her, her inflection on the end had turned her statement into a question, a need for confirmation of the information she already had.

"Can I stay down here for a while?" Jesse asked. "I'm just sick of been the only human up there."

"I know what you mean, of course you can." I said, she settled herself next to me and I put my arm around her.

"It sucks to be human surrounded by werewolves doesn't it?"

"Yes it does."

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There you are another chapter and hopefully the next will be up a week today so you won't have a long wait.

And just a quick question but does anyone know what colour the various wolves are? I know Adam, Samuel, Ben and some of the Marrok pack, but any of the others would be helpful


	7. Blood Bound Part 4

AN: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, those really make my day. And a double thank you to everyone who helped me with the wolf colours. This chapter may be a little on the short side but it was a natural break.

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An hour or two later Warren managed to shift back to this human form, Jesse went back up stairs and a few moments later Honey came down carrying a tray and a pile of fabric, she put the tray down and threw a tee shirt to me before unlocking the cage door. She draped a blanket over Warren and then knelt beside him, placing the tray next to her.

"Warren, it's Honey." She said softly, "You need to eat." Warren groaned faintly but otherwise ignored her. "Warren please, you must eat." He shifted away from her slightly. She sat by him for ten minutes and then sighed. Standing she picked up the tray and left the cage, locking the door behind her again. She set the tray on a low table and I could see the plate contained only meat. Then she turned to me, "He's sleeping." Then she glanced down at my hands, "You know you might want to put that tee shirt on." She suggested.

"Probably." I agreed as I pulled it on.

"If he wakes, try and get him to eat."

"I will." I promised. I leaned against the bars again watching Warren as he continued to drift in and out of consciousness.

I thought I heard him say my name, "Kyle."

"Yes Warren, I'm here."

"Kyle, come back." I realised at he was talking in his sleep his words were slow and hard to understand but I didn't mind making the effort. "Love you."

"I love you to Warren." I told him softly.

He was quiet for a while after that and then I could pick out just three words, "Mate, home."

I smiled at that, I had a feeling that I knew what Warren meant when he said mate and he didn't mean it as another word for friend. "I will darling, you get well and I'll come home."

He was quiet after that, Honey brought me a sandwich, I wasn't sure if that was because it was lunch time or if no one felt like cooking. I ate but Warren still wouldn't. I spent the day imaging what we were going to do once Warren was well again. A day or two spent around the house, either his or mine, making up and becoming familiar with each other again was the first thing on my plan.

But after that I was going to take him to meet my sister like she wanted me to and then I was going to call my parents and tell them about Warren, whether they wanted to hear about it or not. And after that I was thinking we needed a vacation somewhere, preferably somewhere with a beach, maybe Florida or LA. I also decided that we were going to be taking Mercy out to dinner at an expensive restaurant, as a thank you. What exactly I wanted to thank her for I wasn't sure, maybe for been the one to tell me about the werewolves or for putting up with the pair of us for the last few months. Or perhaps simply for calling me when Warren was dying.

It was early afternoon by my watch when Darryl joined me in the basement. He settled himself into one of the chairs and we more or less ignored each other, except for him telling me that getting to close to Warren wasn't a good idea. It was better that we ignore each other, Warren didn't need to hear us arguing on the occasions he drifted into semi-consciousness.

The door to the basement opened and Darryl stared at whoever was in the door way. I had a feeling I knew who it was and called out tiredly from where I was leaning against the silver coated bars. "Mercy?"

"Just a moment." She answered softy, I leaned over and could just see her, gaze locked with Darryl. Eventually he looked away.

"What's wrong?" I asked as she made her way down the stairs and over to me.

"Stupid werewolf games." She said as she crouched next to me in front of the cage door. "Darryl's just a little confused right now." He snorted at that and Mercy smiled slightly. "Following a coyote would stick in any wolf's craw." She continued, "Sitting around when there's things that need doing is worse. If Darryl were a lesser wolf, he'd have killed me when I walked into the room."

Darryl snorted again but this time he started laughing as well. "You're not in any danger from me, Mercy. Confused though I might be."

She glanced over at him and then smiled apparently satisfied with whatever she saw, "Can Warren talk?" She asked him

"Samuel said he thought it would be a few days. Apparently there was some damage to his throat." Darryl told her. "I don't know what effect changing had on his prognosis. He won't eat."

"He talked in his sleep." I told her, keeping my gaze on Darryl without bothering to conceal how much I had come to dislike the man. He had a problem with Warren, which meant he had a problem with me as well.

"What did he say?" Darryl snapped at me, sitting up in his chair and for once paying attention to me.

"Nothing that matters to you." I didn't care that it was probably a bad idea to irritate a werewolf, I turned my attention back to Warren and noticed his shoulders had tensed, he was awake and he had heard the last part.

"You're going to disturb him if you start fighting," Mercy said, she was right so I ignored him. "Darryl, have you heard from Bran?"

I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck as he answered Mercy. "He's coming up. He's got some business to finish so he won't be able to get here until late tonight."

"Good," She said. "I want you to go up and eat something. A hungry werewolf is a cranky werewolf. Go eat something before you eat somebody."

I heard him stand, and then walk up the stairs and close the door at the top. Mercy waited until he was gone and then opened the cage door.

"I've spent most of the last few hours with Darryl telling me that wasn't a good idea." I commented.

"Probably isn't," She agreed. "But Warren listened to me this morning." She went to the mattress he was laying on and sat down on the end, pulling the blanket down until it covered his feet and then crawling into the space between Warren and the wall so that she was just inches from his face.

I followed her into the cell and knelt down behind Warren, placing my hand on a relatively undamaged part of his shoulder. He still looked terrible, if anything the darkening of his bruises made him look worse than he had that morning. I could tell from the look on Mercy's face that something was wrong, that he wasn't healing as fast or as well as he should be doing.

"It's all right," She said softly to Warren. "It's just Kyle and me here."

He opened one eye ever so slightly to look at her and then closed it again, I gently squeezed his shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't be able to see me where I was.

"Adam and Samuel are missing, Daniel is dead." She told him, I didn't know who Daniel was but I didn't think he was one of the wolves. Warren opened his eye slightly a made a small noise. "Was he alive when you last saw him?"

He managed a tiny nod and Mercy reached up to touch his check gently, I could feel him relax under my hand.

"Did you tell Adam and Samuel where to find Littleton ?" She asked. Warren shifted slightly on the bed and I felt him tense under my hand again, he was frustrated I recognised the signs and apparently so did Mercy. She touched his lips, "Shh. Shh. Not you. I see. But someone told them. Do you know where they went?"

Suddenly I remembered something. "Samuel got a phone call last night before they left." I had meant to tell her sooner but worry over Warren had caused me to forget.

She raised her head to stare at me dumbfounded, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Darryl didn't ask," I said simply with a small shrug. "He assumed I was sleeping the whole time, and wasn't in the mood to listen when I tried to talk to him." I sighed, "I should have told you earlier today, but to be quite honest, I was a little distracted."

She settled back onto the mattress and I think from the look on her face she was cursing someone, no doubt Darryl. "If you think being a human around them is frustrating, you should try being a coyote." She said, "So what did Samuel say?"

"Samuel didn't have a chance to say anything to whoever called." I told her, "They called, said a few sentences, and hung up. Samuel grabbed Adam and said, 'Let's go.'"

She gave me a rueful look. "They ignored you, too."

I gave her a tired smiled. "I'm not used to being ignored."

"Irks me when they do it to me, too." She agreed and then shifted her attention back to Warren. "Did you hear what the caller said?"

He tried to say a single word but couldn't, I leant over him and managed to work out what he was trying to say. "Trap?" I asked.

"Warren, I know the werewolves have to stay away from Littleton." Mercy said. "Did he call them and get them to come to him?"

He managed to nod.

"Did you hear where?" She asked but this time he didn't answer, she pressed on. "Warren, I won't let any of the wolves go near him. Neither Kyle nor I will tell the pack where they are, not until Bran gets here. I'll just tell the vampires, it's their problem in the first place."

He tried to tell us but I couldn't work out what he was trying to say, neither could Mercy. Finally I said. "Look, it's obviously not a yes or a no. Warren, my dear, did you hear part of it?"

My poor Warren was exhausted by his efforts but he nodded and managed to get out one more word.

"Church?" Mercy asked and Warren managed a small smile. "That's all?" He shifted his head in what might be a nod and Mercy touched his face again I touched his face as he relaxed. "Go back to sleep, Warren . We'll make sure Bran knows everything."

I squeezed his shoulder again and he gave a small shuddering sigh before relaxing back into full unconsciousness.

Mercy turned to me, she looked exhausted and I wondered how long it had been since she'd slept. "Kyle," She said. "Would you make sure to tell Bran this much when he gets here? He should be here late tonight or early tomorrow morning." She carefully got out of Warren's bed and sat for a moment on the end.

"All right." I promised. "What are you going to be doing?"

She rubbed her face and I thought she looked more like she should be getting back into bed than getting out of it. "If I can find out where Littleton is before nightfall, I might be able to kill him."

"Can I help?" I asked and I wasn't joking, I wanted to get my hands on the guy who had done this to Warren and make him hurt like Warren was hurting.

"Only by staying here with Warren." She told me. "See if you can get him to eat when he stirs again."

I looked down at Warren and tenderly brushed a strand of hair away from his face. "When you find the bastard who did this, kill him and make it hurt." If I couldn't make the bastard hurt then I'd settle for violence by proxy.

She nodded and then said, "Come on."

"He won't hurt me." I insisted.

She looked like she might agree with me but at the same time like she didn't want to take the chance, Warren might be in control now but that could change after she left. With a sigh I pressed a kiss to Warren's hair and then whispered, "Heal quickly my love." Before I followed her out and resumed my seat on the floor by the door.

Seeing what I was doing Mercy pulled one of the cushions off the sofa and threw it at me. I smiled to her and it was slightly more comfortable than the floor had been. Before I could thank Mercy her phone rang.

"What?" I heard her ask, there was a pause and then. "The police station?" Another pause and I wondered if I shouldn't be listening but then she had asked me to pass everything onto Bran and overhearing phone calls did seem to be helping today. "How broad's the pattern?" Again a pause, while the person on the other end answered and Mercy started waling towards the stares with a brief nod to me. "I don't know, maybe. Thanks, Tony. I owe you a few favours for this." She was at the top of the stairs when she hung up with a final, "I'll do my best."

I thought I heard Darryl's voice at the top of the stairs but the door swung shut blocking it off and leaving Warren and I alone again.

Honey came down an hour or so later with a tray of food for Warren and I. "If he wakes again try and get him to eat." She told me before she left. I assumed the plate with cooked stake and vegetables was for me, I may like my stake medium rare but the other stake look so rare it seemed as though it should be able to get up and walk. I wondered if it had even seen a frying pan.

I ate my dinner and then called the office, for a basement I got surprisingly good reception.

"Marie, it's Kyle." I said."

"Mr Brooks, how is Warren?" She asked, her voice politely interested but there was also a note of true concern in it.

"There have been some rough patches over the last twenty-four hours but he's a bit better now." I told her truthfully, "Though still not good."

"Do you want me to clear you schedule for the rest of the week?"

"Thank you." I said grateful that she seemed able to read my mind.

"I informed Mr Willis and Ms Reid of what had happened," Marie told me. "They are both perfect happy to cover for you for the rest of the week."

"Thank you, Marie." I said, "I'll call you later in the week." I said as I hung up.

"Kyle?" Warren called out in a quiet voice. I turned towards the cage, Warren had managed to roll on his and his head was turned towards me.

"Thirsty."

There was a pitcher of water and two glasses on the tray that Honey had brought down. Not even thinking about the consequences of it I poured him a glass of water and unlocked the door. I sat on the bed beside Warren and supported his head to let him take a sip of the water.

"Slowly." I cautioned him. "Slowly, there you go." When he'd had enough I helped him lay his head back down. "Are you hungry?" He made an affirmative noise and I leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right back my dear." I quickly left the cage and picked up the second plate before returning to Warren's side. "Don't blame me for the cooking, Honey did this. Do you need help sitting up?"

Warren nodded and I supported his shoulders, helping him sit up and then lean back against me. "Well, at least Honey cut it up into bite size pieces, open up." I said holding a piece up to his lips. He ate the piece I gave him and continued eating until he had cleared the plate, then I put the plate on the floor and helped Warren lay back down.

I was about to leave when he weakly grabbed my arm. "Why?"

"Why am I here?" I asked, he nodded. "Mercy called me when she found out you were hurt."

He shook his head, "Came, why?" I smiled understanding what he was asking.

"Because in spite of how I acted, I love you. And when I heard that you were hurt I realised just how much, I didn't care what you are, or the lie you told, all I cared about was getting to you as soon as possible."

"Love you." He managed, I was going to leave again when Warren uttered one word that changed that. "Stay."

I knew that it probably ranked fairly high on the list of stupid things to do but I didn't care, Warren wanted me to stay with him and I would. "Of course darling." I told him and lay down beside him.

He fell asleep in a matter of minutes, a faint smile on his lips, and I wasn't far behind.

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AN: Next chapter should be up by a week Friday at the latest, it would be up sooner but between the Brownie Guide Warrant I'm working on and these interviews I've been having I'm afraid I've been a little short of time.


	8. Blood Bound Part 5

AN: I am terribly sorry for the long delay in updating, life got hectic and then a great-aunt accusing me of something I didn't do put me in such a bad mood that I couldn't face doing any writing, if I had done this fic would have gone seriously AU as everyone met horrible and painful deaths.

Warning: If you haven't read the Charles and Anna stories (Alpha and Omega,Cry Wolf and Hunting Ground) then there will be spoilers here but I tried to keep them to a minimum.

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"Darryl." The voice of a man woke me, "I believe the purpose of a safe room is to protect people."

"It is." Darryl's voice was a distance away but I heard his footsteps at the top of the stairs.

"Then why is there a human locked in there with an injured wolf?" I opened my eyes to see three people, two men and a woman, standing outside the cage, Darryl and Honey walking up behind them.

"Because he's stubborn pig headed idiot." Darryl growled when he saw me.

"That's Kyle." Honey said in a quiet voice. One of the men turned to look at her, he reminded me of a computer geek, with his slight build and intelligent eyes, he honestly looked like someone who spent all day sat behind a computer. However as someone who regularly used stereotypes to my advantage and given the resemblance I could see in him to Samuel, faint but it was there, I assumed that he was not someone to be trifled with. The other man also had a commanding presence about him but where the first man was pale, this one looked pure Native American, even more so than Mercy. He was tall, with long dark hair and dark eyes that held a look that I knew meant he was dangerous, another person it would probably be unwise to cross.

"The one Mercy decided to tell early?" The first man questioned, Honey nodded keeping her eyes on the floor. I was starting to be able to read werewolf body language and I guessed based on Honey's reactions and Darryl's, who also kept his eyes lowered, that this man was fairly high up the werewolf pecking order. I started to stand and Warren gave a murmur of protest, I swiftly leaned down and kissed his relatively undamaged cheek. "Hush darling, I'll be back in a moment." I removed his hand from where it had migrated to my hip at some point after we had fallen asleep and placed it on his stomach.

"Is one of you Bran?" I questioned, standing to face the werewolves.

"I am." The geeky looking one said.

"Mercy asked me to tell you that Samuel and Adam had both been tricked into going to a location and had then been kidnapped by the same person who hurt Warren, a vampire named Littleton."

"It's taken Samuel?" Bran asked and suddenly I could see ages in his eye and I wondered, knowing that werewolves were immortal, just how old Barn was. Then I remembered something else that Warren had told me months ago. Samuel was Bran's first born son.

"Do you know where?" The other man asked, I could feel the tension rising in the room.

"All Warren could tell us was 'church'." I told them, "I assume Littleton is at a former church somewhere."

"We'll go after him." Bran said, "Kyle, you know Mercy better than any of us do, if she wanted to leave a secure message where would she do it?"

I thought for a moment. She'd never leave a message at her house, it wasn't secure enough and if she was there then she would have been close enough to Adam's house to have left the message with me. That left only one option. "At her shop." I said, "If she found anything else she would have left a message for you there." I remembered something else, "She got a call just before she left, I couldn't hear who it was but she said something about the police station and a pattern."

"We'll go there then." Bran said.

"She might have left a message on your phone." I suggested, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. I assumed he'd forgotten to turn it back on after his flight.

"Darryl, you'll come with us." The other man ordered. "Anna." He turned to the woman who was with him, "I need you to stay here."

"No you need me with you." She insisted, "Vampires don't scare me and demons make wolves loose control." She cast an uneasy glance at Bran, "What if you or worse Bran looses control? You'll need me."

"I need you safe." He insisted. He looked over at Warren and I, I met his gaze for a moment before dropping my eyes to the floor, even though I wasn't a wolf I could feel the power of this man, I looked at him thought my lashes and noticed that he was studying Warren and I with an appraising eye. "You will be safe here." He said to the woman, "But if you're with me then I can't focus on the sorcerer. My father and I will be able to help Samuel and Adam if they've lost control, and I will call you the first moment that I feel anything is wrong with Brother Wolf, I promise."

Though I understood little of whatever the man I assumed was Charles Cornick, Samuel's brother, had just said it was apparently enough to satisfy the woman who I judged to be his wife/mate. She sighed, apparently still not happy about been left behind but accepting, "Then I come find you?" She question and he nodded.

"I'll drive you, if you need it, the demon shouldn't affect me worse than any other human." I offered, the man turned to me and stared for a long moment. Apparently liking whatever he saw, or didn't see, he nodded.

"Let's go." Bran said, "Mercy left details in her office safe. We'll call with the details in case you need to find us." He said giving the woman's forehead a kiss, the other man gave her a kiss too, this one less chaste.

"Be safe." She told him as Bran led the way out of the basement, Honey left after them as well but Darryl stuck his head back through the door to yell at me.

"You might want to get out of the cage!"

"Just because you can't resist me when I'm locked up!" I shouted back.

Anna giggled at that, "I still think it might be a good idea." She said with a smile, "He won't loose control while I'm here but I wouldn't mind the company." She'd moved to sit on the couch, I gave Warren another kiss on the cheek and unlocked the cage. I slipped out and relocked it behind me again, I might be prepared to risk my own life but I wasn't prepared to risk anyone else's.

I took the seat beside Anna. "I'm Kyle Brooks." I told her as I sat down.

"Anna Cornick." She replied, holding out her hand to me.

"Any relation to Samuel?" I asked as I shook her hand.

"My brother-in-law." She said with a smile, "He's the older brother of my mate Charles."

"I assume Charles was the guy who was here with Bran?" I questioned, I wanted to make sure that I had everyone straight.

"Yes." She said with a smile. "And I assume that you are with Warren?" The inflection at the end of her sentence turned it into a question.

"I was." I wasn't sure how else to put it. I had been with Warren and I wanted to be again but I couldn't say that we were together without his consent.

"Charles told me about you." She admitted. "Mercy told you about werewolves before we came out. She broke the law because Warren couldn't tell you."

"I always thought that was a stupid rule, no telling until after the wedding." I admitted, "It sounds like a recipe for giving me more work."

"Oh?"

"I'm a divorce lawyer." I admitted with a small smile, "Being gay is actually a benefit in this profession. The wives seem to prefer me even to female lawyer."

"Because there is little chance of you seducing their soon-to-be-ex-husbands?" Anna asked with a grin.

"Something like that." I told her.

"So what happened between the two of you?" She asked gesturing between Warren and I.

I don't know why but suddenly I found myself telling my entire story to this woman I hardly knew, including parts I hadn't told anyone but Warren and Mercy. I couldn't help myself something made me want to tell her everything. Anna didn't judge me or really say anything except the occasional encouraging noises.

"Sorry to unload like that." I told her when I'd finished my rambling tale.

"It's alright." She told me putting a hand on my arm, "Most people have that reaction to an omega."

"Omega?" I asked confused, that term had not being in Mercy's werewolf 101 or in Warren's expanded version, nor had I heard it used over the last couple of days.

"Omegas are rare, I've only met one other." Anna explained. "You understand about dominant and submissive wolves right?" I nodded, I knew that they were even if I didn't perfectly understand. "Well when Charles first explained it he said Omegas are like the medicine man in a Native American, we're outside of normal pack structure, neither dominant nor submissive. We have all the protective instincts of an Alpha but none of the aggression."

I was following, more or less, but I still wasn't sure how this explained my spilling my guts to her less than ten minutes after we met.

"Omegas bring peace to a pack; we can stop other wolves loosing control and reduce the aggression so there are less dominance challenges." Well that explained what she'd said to Charles about them needing her if he or his father lost control.

"That still doesn't explain it." I told her, "I understand why you'd affect werewolves but not me, I'm still human."

"It doesn't matter." She said, "People who became the most dominant wolves were often leaders with a very commanding presence while they were still human. Look at Adam; he was a military leader before the change. In the same way people were draw o me even before I was changed, strangers would tell me their life stories and everything that was wrong in their lives."

"Alright." I agreed, it did make sense after all.

"So people still want to listen to Adam, even if they aren't wolves." Anna went on, "It's usually the same for the top few dominant wolves in a pack. Even if humans don't know why they still fear and obey them." I thought about it, that did make sense and I had seen it. Warren had confronted a group of redneck gay bashers and they had backed down, and yet… "That doesn't work on me." I told her, "By your logical I should back down from Darryl and especially Samuel but I don't, not always anyway." I remembered how I'd flirted with Samuel the first time I'd met him and how I answered Darryl back just a few moments ago.

"Please don't take this the wrong way Kyle but I think if you were changed you would be a very dominant wolf, probably as dominant as Warren." She told me, it didn't bother me in the slightest. "Usually a woman in a pack takes her place from her husband but I'm not sure how it would work with you and Warren."

"It's not an issue right now." I told her, "I have to get him to forgive me first."

"He will." She assured me, "But that's why you told me everything, because I'm an omega." Before she could say anything else her phone rang. "Hello Charles." She said as she answered it.

I don't know if she meant me to be able to but sitting next to her on the sofa allowed me to hear both sides of the conversation. "Mercy thought the vampire was at the former Congregational church on second or third, a couple of block from Washington, near the police station."

"I know it." I told Anna, I had occasionally ended up at the police station, not all divorces were smooth affairs and while I might not be a criminal attorney quite a few of my more battered clients had appreciated having me present when they made a statement to the police.

"Good." Charles had obviously heard me. "If you don't hear from me in an hour then get Kyle to bring you here but make sure you have a couple of submissive wolves with you, my father says they are less likely to loose control in the demons presence because they are naturally less aggressive."

"I will Charles. Be careful, I've nearly lost you too many times already in the last year."

"You won't loose me Anna. I love you."

"I love you too." Anna said and hung up the phone. "I hate letting him go off alone."

"I know how you feel." I told her. "Had a bad year I take it?"

Anna smiled sadly, "Yes, between the psycho wolves, witches and Fae I'm lucky to still have him,it's a good things wolves are so tough."

"Yes it is." I agreed looking over at Warren, he looked a little better but I wouldn't be properly happy until he was up, talking, and also, given the violent nature of werewolves, able to defend himself. Anna either wasn't stupid or knew the look on my face well because she put her hand on my shoulder, it was one of the few times a werewolf, bar Warren, had touched me. "He's strong." She told me, "He must be to be Adam's third and to have lived as a gay lone wolf for so long. I've seen the damage a group of vampires can do to a wolf and I've seen the wolf in question heal, I know it doesn't make watching your mate suffer any easier but he will heal." Before I could say anything I heard someone open the door and looked up to see it was Honey carrying a tray.

"I thought Warren might be hungry again." She said as she came down.

I stood and took the tray from her, "Thank you."

"Are you hungry?" She asked, "I'm not used to feeding a human, even Jesse generally just helps herself to the fridge."

I smiled, wondering if that little bit was due to Anna's 'omega effect'. In my admittedly limited experience, Honey certainly wouldn't usually tell me something like that. "No I'm fine thanks." Then I remembered what Charles had said, "Honey is your husband here?"

"No, why?" She asked.

"Charles wants a few submissive wolves here ready to go with Anna and I if we don't hear from him in the next hour."

"What is going on?" Honey demanded, I wasn't sure if it was because I was only human and so not a part of the pack or if it was because she was getting frustrated with the lack of communication in the pack, I know that I was, no one seemed to tell anyone anything.

Anna came to stand beside me, "There is a demon possessed vampire on the loose, it can make wolves loose control. My mate doesn't want me near the danger but he promised to call the moment he feels his control slipping. If that happens he and Bran will need me but Charles isn't happy with my going alone or with only a human," She indicated me, "So he wants me to bring some submissive wolves with me, the Marrok hopes they won't loose control as easily because submissives are less aggressive by nature."

Honey looked slightly surprised at being told so much but she nodded, "I'll call Peter immediately. There's only two of us will that be enough?"

"It'll be alright." Anna reassured her and I noticed Honey relaxed immediately, "This is only a back up plan, I'm sure the males will be fine on their own."

Honey actually looked up at the calm reassuring voice that Anna used, "Who are you?" She asked and I realised that Anna probably hadn't been introduced to anyone when they had arrived. Outside of their pack structure werewolves seemed to lack common social courtesies, at least in my opinion.

"Anna Cornick." She said holding out her hand, "Charles' mate."

Honey took her hand but immediately dropped her eyes to the floor, "You're not like other wolves."

"I'm an omega." Anna said, apparently Honey was much better versed in the werewolf world than I was because she immediately understood what that meant.

"I've heard of omegas but I've never actually met one." Honey said shyly. "Would you mind sticking around for a while? We're going to be having some issues with dominance around here soon."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked,

That one I at least could answer. "Honey why don't you go and call you husband, I'll explain." Honey nodded and darted up the stairs. "Warren is technically third but he's actually more dominant that the second Darryl. Darryl thinks they won't accept Warren as second because he's gay."

"That could cause problems." She agreed, "But Adam is one of the most dominant wolves after the Marrok's family, he'll be able to stop it getting too out of control."

"For some reason that is not very reassuring." I told her,

She smiled at me, "Don't worry, once Warren has proper control again I'm sure he can just go back to pretending he's submissive to Darryl, no one will ever need to know, unless you think he'd actually want to be second."

I shook my head, I didn't think Warren would want that, it would destabilise the pack, of that I was certain and I was equally certain that Warren wouldn't want to be the cause of anything that upset the pack that badly. No I believed that he would be happy to remain third and that no one outside of those in the room a the time would ever know the truth. I looked down at the tray I still held, "I should see if he's hungry." Anna agreed and she unlocked the cage for me before following me in. She stayed near the door giving us some illusion of privacy while still being close enough to help if Warren caused trouble, not that I thought he would.

He was looking somewhat better; at least his injuries looked like they were starting to heal which was hugely reassuring. "Warren love, wake up." I said gently nudging his shoulder, "Come on darling it's dinner time."

"Kyle?" He even sounded a little better, like his throat was healing some.

"I'm here, now you need to eat again."

His nostrils flared, "Who?"

"Anna Cornick, apparently Samuel's sister-in-law."

"Charles here?" He asked.

"And Bran too." I assured him, "They've gone after Mercy, who's gone after Littleton. And I just realised that this reminds me of the kids' story about the women who swallowed a spider to catch the fly." Anna laughed at that and Warren tried to but it turned into a cough. I supported him until the coughing fit passed, "All right enough jokes for you, time to eat."

I helped him to sit up, leaning against my chest again and started feeding him the meat that Honey had thoughtfully cut up into bite size pieces again. When he'd finished eating I helped him lay back down and turned to leave again but this time he actually managed to catch my arm. "Stay, talk."

"Alright." I told him settling back onto the bed next to him and stretching my legs out in front of me. "But no talking for you," I ordered him, he nodded slightly and settled his head onto my stomach, using me as a pillow, and laying his arm across my waist. He seemed determined that I wasn't going anywhere. "What should I talk about?" I asked him, completely ignoring the fact that I had just told him he wasn't allowed to talk.

"Idiots at work." I think that was actually the longest sentence I'd heard him string together yet and I smiled at that.

"Well let's see." I said thinking for a moment, "Some of the best reasons I've heard for filing for divorce over the past few months." I felt Warren nod against my stomach, clearly liking the topic, we both knew that there were more serious topics we needed to talk about but that could wait until we were alone and Warren could actually talk.

"There was one man who claimed that his wife loved the cat more than him, her reply was that at least the cat came home occasionally rather than spending all day at work and all night in bars or with hookers. Plus she claimed she could have a more intelligent conversation with the cat and having met her husband I'd be inclined to agreed."

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AN: Hopefully a shorter wait for the next chapter.


	9. Blood Bound Part 6

AN: Thanks for all the positive feedback on the last chapter, I was a little nervous about including Anna but I'm glad it came off alright.

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Anna had joined us on the bed by the time her phone rang half an hour later. She had it to her ear in a flash. "Charles?" She asked leaning closer to me so I could hear both sides of the conversation.

"We're all right Anna," He assured her, "All still alive and the demon is gone, courtesy of Mercy the vampire slayer."

"How is Mercy?" I asked knowing the werewolf would hear me.

"She's fine. A dislocated shoulder and a possibly broken ankle along with scratches and bruises but nothing that won't heal." Charles said.  
"Thank god." I breathed a sigh of relief and felt Warren relax against me as well.

"Samuel is taking her to the hospital, Adam won't leave her side and dad is going along to keep the peace between those two and because neither of them look too good right now, emotionally or physically."

"But they'll be alright?" Anna asked the concern clear in her voice.

"They will in a day or two. Darryl and I are on our way back with an injured wolf, Samuel wanted me to ask how Warren is?"

"He seems to be healing a bit better," Anna said turning to me questioning.

"He's a fair bit better than when Samuel last saw him, I managed to get him to eat again and he's awake now though he's still not up to talking much."

"That will reassure Samuel." Charles said, "And Mercy too, she said she was still worried about him."

"How far are you?" Anna asked.

"About ten minutes away." Charles said.

Anna nodded even though he couldn't see her, "I'll see you soon, I'm going to go up stairs and tell the pack what's happened. I asked Honey to call her husband, he's a submissive, in case we needed them and it sounds like most of the pack is here now." Now that Anna had mentioned it, it did sound like there were more people upstairs than there had been an hour ago even to a human with limited senses.

"We'll see you soon." Charles promised and hung up.

Anna eased herself off the bed and made her way up stairs. "Well." I said brushing my fingers through Warren's hair. "Looks like you came out of this worst, everyone else is alive, except for that vampire Daniel, and we nearly lost you."

"Sorry." Warren said in a small voice.

"You will be if you ever scare me like that again." I promised, "If you die I will kill you." I could feel Warren laugh slightly at that, "There is absolutely no need to point out that if you're dead I can't kill you because I will simply follow you to the next life and kill you there."

"You can't die."

"Then neither can you." I told him firmly, "Now where was I before Charles phone?"

"Businessman."

"Ah yes, well his wife decided to file for divorce after she found his sectary's cell phone in their bed. He got their Seattle home but she got the Florida condo and just over half his money. Not a bad deal. She was pleased that they'd be in separate time zones, though I think she'd have preferred separate planets." I sighed, "I hope you realise that once you're well enough to move you're coming home with me and you're going to let me make up for been an absolute dick for the last few months by waiting on you hand and foot."

"Got a choice?" Warren asked.

"No, your place has far too many stairs for the state your leg is in."

"Bad?"

"Well it's still attached." I said trying to lighten the mood, "But that's about all I can say, if you were human I think you'd be lucky to be up on it in the next month. So you're coming back to mine, where everything you need is on one floor."

"Got two of everything." Warren complained.

"Came with the house, I just like the view." I told him, "I have the next week off work and I am going to play nurse for you."

"Please no costume."

I laughed, "Well there goes that plan. Are you sure? I think I'd look quite good in a tight little white PVC nurse's dress."

"Stop!" Came Darryl's voice from the top of the stairs where he'd just opened the door, I had been so involved in my conversation with Warren that I hadn't heard the front door open. "You're traumatising every one in the house." He complained.

"I'm fairly sure Jesse can't hear me." I pointed out, I would never have said it if I thought the young girl would hear me. She really didn't need to hear that sort of thing and I'm not sure I'd live through Adam finding out that I was the reason she'd heard it.

"Fine." Darryl said as he came down the stairs, "Every wolf in the house then, either way stop it." I could feel Warren laugh slightly where he was still leaning against me. Darryl came into the cage, which Anna had left open when she went upstairs, and took in Warren's appearance. "He looks better."

"He is." I agreed, "Most of his cuts look a little better and the bruises are starting to turn yellow instead of purple. I'm not sure about his leg and the other serious injures, I can't really check them from here." I pointed out gesturing to how Warren was using me as his pillow with an arm locked around my waist.

"Huh, he looks comfortable there." Darryl said.

Warren shifted slightly so he could look up at Darryl, "Leave Kyle alone." He said but without any force behind the order, which was probably a good thing.

"You're still alive then?" Darryl said, "You feeling in control yet?"

"Yes." Warren told him.

"Good, because someone's been injured and they're going to be needing that cage more than you."

"Who?" Warren asked, lifting his head slightly to look at Darryl.

"Ben." Darryl said, "He's out of it at the moment thanks to Charles and Anna but they need to leave as soon as possible."

"Mercy?" I asked.

"Adam, Samuel and Bran took her to the ER along with that vampire she's friends with. She'll live, probably be limping more than you but she's a coyote, they're bloody hard to kill." He turned his attention to Warren, "Can you manage to walk up stairs?"

"Maybe." Warren pushed himself up until he was sitting, he swayed slightly and I quickly sat up to steady him.

"And maybe not." I corrected, "Certainly not on your own." I helped him stand and supported him on his injured side so he didn't have to put too much weight on his injured leg but even that didn't help as much as he needed. "I think you're going to need some more help." I told him.

"No." He insisted, his teeth gritted in pain. "I'll be alright."

"Pride goes before a fall." Anna said from the top of the stairs, she had no doubt been listening to our conversation. "Namely you down the stairs if you don't get some extra help." Darryl moved aside to allow Anna to pass. "Well I could carry you but knowing you dominants that will really get your panties in a twist, so if you just put your weight on me instead of Kyle." She took my place and wrapped her arm around his waist; I could tell she was supporting almost all of his weight. Damn werewolves are strong if even the women can do that.

Anna helped Warren to one of the upstairs guest rooms though not the one he had originally being in, I had a feeling Adam would have a hard time getting the blood off the floor and walls. Once Warren was settled on the bed I laid down next to him and he place one hand on my hip, pulling me closer to him. I smiled and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep." I told him, "And tomorrow I'll go round and see how Mercy is, I want to check now but if Samuel and Adam are both with her then perhaps tomorrow is a better bet."

Warren made an affirmative noise and then sighed, there was silence for several long moments and I thought he had fallen asleep, then I heard him whisper, "Kiss me properly Kyle."

I couldn't help but smile again as I leant over and pressed my lips to his, allowing them to linger there for a moment before deepening the kiss. It was the first time we had kissed since I learnt he was a werewolf and it felt so good, even with Warren as weak as he was. It felt like coming home. His hand tightened on my hip and I knew he felt it to, I allowed my hand to find a relatively uninjured part of his shoulder and gently pulled him tighter against me.

Neither of us wanted to part but eventually the need of air forced us to, we laid there catching our breath and looking into each other's eyes, "I've missed that." I told him, then I kissed him again quickly, teasingly. "I missed you."

"Same." Warren said, "Never going to let you go." He promised. My grin widened.

"That assumes I want to leave, we have a lot to talk about Warren but it can wait. For now I think we both need to sleep."

"You do look terrible." Warren said, "Have you slept?"

His throat and voice were both clearly improving. Twenty-four hours ago, even just twelve, such a sentence would have been impossible for him. "Here and there, now you're healing I can sleep properly."

This time it was Warren who somehow found the strength to lean over and kiss my softly, "Then we both sleep." He told me and it didn't take much longer before that is just what we both did.

I woke the next morning before Warren, the morning sunlight through the window illuminated his sleeping face where it rested peacefully on the pillow beside me. Despite all the bruising and cuts that still marred his face he looked beautiful to me; so peaceful and young while he slept, vulnerable even, something he could never be described as while awake.

I shifted away from him slightly so I could prop myself up on one arm and look at him properly but my movement must have woken him because he asked sleepily, "Kyle?"

"I'm here love." I said as I leant down and kissed him, "Good morning,"

"Morning." He answered but before we would say anything more there was a knock at the door followed by Adam entering. He must have being listening to know when we were awake.

"You're looking better." He said as he walked over to the bed we were both still laid on. He smiled slightly, "I'm glad you're still with us Warren."

"Me too." Warren said looking up at his Alpha.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better." Warren told him and then frowned, "But my ankle still hurts like hell."

Adam nodded, "I'll get you some breakfast sent up and then Kyle can go ask Samuel to come check on you, I'm sure he'll want an excuse to see Mercy anyway."

I nodded and Adam left. Warren and I talked for a few minutes and I reminded him of my plan that he was coming back to mine and being waited on hand and foot until he was better, he didn't object in the slightest but gave me that slow sexy grin that made my insides do a small flip.

Jessie brought breakfast up, pleased to see Warren was awake and talking again but she left us alone after giving Warren a hug and telling him she was glad he was going to be alright. Warren was strong enough to feed himself now but instead we took turns feeding each other forkfuls of bacon and eggs. It was the happiest I could remember us being in a long time, perhaps forever because there were no secrets between us, I knew what Warren was and he knew that I could and did accept it.

After we finished eating I took Adam's suggestion, or perhaps order was a better choice of word, and went to see Mercy. At Warren's suggestion I took the shortcut over Adam's back fence and past the half derelict car that Mercy kept in her back yard solely, I had been informed, to piss Adam off. I had to wonder if that actually was Adam's number scrawled across the hood along with an offer of a good time, for some reason, namely knowing Mercy, I suspected it was.

When I knocked on Mercy's door it was Samuel who answered it, he looked like he had being through hell and back so I assumed that whatever had happened to him had been as bad for him mentally as it had been physically for Warren. Either that or he was working the night shift this week.

"Kyle." He greeted with a slight nod of his head.

"Samuel, Adam and I were hoping you'd have a chance to check Warren over today, he seems to be healing but I want to be sure." I phrased it as a request from me, there seemed to be tension between Adam and Samuel, over Mercy from what the lady in question had told me and there was no need to ruffle Samuel's fur further by having him think the request came from Adam. "Your brother also wants to see you this morning because he and Anna are returning to Montana this afternoon and they would like to see you before they leave." Anna had caught up with me on my way out the door and as soon as she realised where I was going she asked me to pass on the message, I think she wasn't comfortable with going to knock on a stranger's door to find her brother-in-law. "Bran is planning on staying for a few more days to be sure that everything has settled down."

Samuel smiled, "Ah Anna wants to make sure I'm alright since she didn't get a chance to see me last night, that little wolf has the entire pack wrapped round her little finger and she doesn't even know it. I'll go and reassure then I'm not about to take a swim in the Columbia River, I'll check Warren out but if he's still with us then he should be fine."

He glanced back into the trailer and I interpreted his glance, "Don't worry about her, I wanted to see her anyway, Warren and I were both worrying but I wouldn't let him out of bed."

"I did not need to know that." Came Mercy's voice from inside the trailer.

"Good morning Mercy." I called back.

She limped into view, leaning on the wall to keep her weight off her bad ankle. "Come on in already Kyle. Samuel get over to Adam's and check Warren out." Apparently Samuel wasn't one to argue with Mercy and did as he was told.

"How are you Mercy?" I asked as I took a seat on her couch.

"I've been better." She said with a small smile, "Adam and Samuel were both fussing over me at the hospital and it took Bran to keep the peace. But apart from a sprained ankle I'm fine, it's the wolves I'm worried about. It wasn't a good scene there."

"I can imagine." I agreed, "But it's dead now right, the cause of all the trouble is dead?" Mercy hesitated and I was suddenly sure I would not like the answer.

"Yes and no." Mercy told me at last, "The vampire riding demon is dead, the guy who made him isn't, but they have him locked up." She saw me about to ask her a question and rushed on, "Please don't ask me any more, believe me this is one of the things you are better off not knowing."

I accepted that, while I might want to know more I would trust Mercy enough that if she said I did not need to know then I probably didn't and it was certainly safer that way

Seeing that I wasn't going to argue she continued, "So how's Warren?"

I grinned, "He's much better, he can actually talk now." I told her, "Hopefully we can go home either later today or tomorrow, well we're actually going back to mine because I won't let Warren be on his own."

"Good." Mercy told me, "But I seriously doubt he objected, you two have a lot to talk about."

"I know we do." I agreed, "There's still a lot about werewolves that I don't understand."

"There are some things that I even I don't understand." Mercy confided, "And I was raised by them." She shook her head, "I think you have to be one before you fully get them."

I smiled at that and then remembered something I had wanted to ask her. "Mercy, why did Warren listen to you?" I asked, "Honey seemed to think that you were the only one he'd listen to except for Adam."

Mercy looked uncomfortable at this, as though it was topic she really didn't want to talk about. "When he first moved here, Adam named me as his mate, at the time I thought it was to protect me from the pack but now, with how Warren responded to me, I think there might be more to it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In the pack a woman takes her rank from her mate, until yesterday I thought it was some nonsense that the human side had made up but it does seem to have an effect on the pack magic."

"Magic?" I asked.

She nodded but I decided not to press it any further, I wasn't sure my poor overloaded mind was going to cope with much more information but there were a few more questions I needed to ask. "So Warren listened to you because Adam said you were his mate?" She nodded, "I assume there's more to been someone's mate than them saying so."

"There is." Mercy agreed, "What are you asking?"

"While he was drifting in and out of consciousness that's what he called me."

Mercy smiled, "I thought something like that might be going on, you need to talk to him, urgently."

"I know." I agreed, "But I wanted to know that it was significant."

"It is." She said and then we turned the conversation to other topics.

When Samuel came back, I looked up at him expectantly the moment he was through the door, as did Mercy. "He's healing well." He told us, "Almost as fast as he should be but there's still lot of damage to fix, I told him he could only go home today if there's someone with him." He looked at me, "He said you're planning on letting him stay at yours."

"For as long as he needs to." Or preferably longer, but I didn't add that aloud. If I had my way Warren would never be going back to his own place, I had spent months trying to talk him into moving in with me but he never agreed. I knew why now, he would never have been able to hide what he was if we lived together. Now he didn't need to hide anything I hoped to have more luck, but whether he agreed to it permanently or not he would be stopping with me until he was fully recovered.

I was also glad that we could go home, been in a house full of werewolves was uncomfortable for me. Mainly because I knew that they could hear pretty much every word I said to Warren but also because I knew just how many of them hated him, both Mercy and Warren had told me that months ago. A good portion of the pack hated Warren because he was gay and I was certain that hatred extended to me. I knew not all werewolves were like that, some were accepting like Adam and Anna but in all I would be glad to be away from them. Especially because then Warren and I could have the conversation we needed to have.

"Well his ankle is still in pretty bad shape and he needs to stay off it as much as possible, he has a few cracked bones, including two of his ribs and his skull. There's also still some of the internal damage that hasn't fully healed yet. What he really needs to several more days in bed but knowing wolves we'll be lucky to keep him there another day."

"I never had any problem keeping Warren in bed." I said with a grin and a wink, Mercy snickered and Samuel just shook his head.

I was about to leave but before I could Mercy said to Samuel. "Could you check Kyle out as well? Warren caught him with his claws while was out of control."

"Warren hurt him?" Samuel seemed very surprised by that but I wasn't sure why, as far as I could see an out of control werewolf was a danger to everyone in the vicinity regardless of what the human side might normally feel for them.

"He was aiming for Darryl." Mercy explained, Samuel nodded as if this explained something. "Right Kyle, shirt off."

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." I said as a pulled off the tee shirt I was wearing, "If you wanted me naked you only have to ask, no need for these pretences."

"Is he always this bad or is it just stress that brings it out?" Samuel asked the room in general as he unwound the bandages around my chest and examined the slashes, rather than waiting for either of us to answer he continued, "Someone did a good job of cleaning these up."

"It was Jesse." I told him and then winced as he poked the side of the wound.

"Looks like most of these are healing just fine on their own." He concluded, "But I want to put a couple of stitches in the deeper ones, it'll close the wound faster and reduce scaring." He fetched his own first aid kit and the very fact that it contained things like a surgical needle and thread as well as a local anaesthetic showed that he was a doctor. Still at least it meant Mercy had someone to patch her up when she bit off more than she could chew, something that seemed to be happening more and more recently.

I wasn't sure how old Samuel was or how long he'd been a doctor, though I suspected the answer was a long time, but however long it had been it showed in his skills. He put in the stitches quickly and efficiently, though I had to look away, the sight of it reminding me that just days ago it had been Warren he was patching up. Fortunately before I could get too upset about it he'd finished and was bandaging me up again. "I want to see you again in a few days to check how that's healing." I wasn't going to argue with the good doctor. "Don't get them too wet and avoid any strenuous activity for a day or two. Not that Warren is in any sort of shape for much strenuous activity either." He added with a smirk. I'm not sure if it was my injuries, the knowledge that he was a werewolf or gratitude for his saving Warren, but I somehow resisted the urge to smack the good doctor. Mercy didn't.

* * *

AN: Hoping to get at least one more update before Christmas


	10. Blood Bound Part 7

AN: I trust this answers the question of whether or not I'll be up dating before Christmas, truth is it was ready last week but I forgot it was ready, oops! (I have a rather bad memory)

* * *

I headed back to Adam's and Warren. Most people might be upset to walk into a room and find the man they loved in bed with a woman, but it was only Jesse and she was more sat on the bed than in it. "Hello Jesse." I said as I walked in.

"Hey Kyle, I was just keeping Warren company and I brought him a snack." She gestured to the empty plate on the edge of the bed that I hadn't previous noticed. "You gotta keep healing werewolves well feed you know."

"I didn't, thank you Jesse." I said sitting down on the other side of Warren, "Anything else I should know?"

"Nope, just keep him well fed and he'll be fine."

"He's right here you know." Warren pointed out indigently from his place between us.

"Yes dear." I said kissing his forehead and then turning back to Jesse, "I don't suppose there a book on all this is there?"

"'So you married a werewolf?'" Jesse laughed, "Not to my knowledge no, but you aren't the first to want one."

"We aren't married." I pointed out to the young girl and refrained from pointing out half of our problems had steamed from the fact that we couldn't marry. At least not in the USA.

She looked at Warren, than at me before finally looking back at Warren, "Could have fooled me." I wasn't sure what to make of that, or the look she gave Warren so I decided to let it drop. For now.

"You been talking about me?" I asked poking him in the side.

"Only good thing I promise." Warren laughed.

"So all lies then?" I grinned and then winced as Warren poked me in the ribs, directly over on the slash marks his claws had left. I tried to hide the wince but I couldn't and Warren noticed.

"Kyle?"

Jesse looked between us and then stood up, "Looks like my cue to leave, see you guys later." he bounced out the room and I turned my attention to Warren who was give me a very pointed look that I knew demanded an explanation.

With a sigh I shifted away from him slightly and pulled off my shirt, revealing the bandages underneath, hesitantly Warren ran his finger lightly over them. "What happened?" He asked.

I did not want to tell him, I more especially did not want to tell him in a house full of werewolves who could no doubt overhear every word but it didn't seem like I would have a choice. "You did." I told him gently, "When you changed you lost control."

I saw the horror in Warren's eyes as a spoke and I hated that telling him this was causing him pain but I really had no choice, there could be no secrets between us if we were going to make this work. He pulled his hand away from me as though afraid that he might inadvertently hurt me again, "How could I hurt you?" I asked in wondering horror.

"It was an accident." I assured him, "I was helping Darryl contain you and you took a swipe at him, he ducked in time but I didn't and you caught me with you claws." I decided to omit that part where he'd also knocked me halfway across the room, he seemed to be dealing with enough guilt without adding to it. "Though having spent a couple of days with Darryl I do share you sentiment about wanting to gut him." I added trying to lighten the mood.

It worked but only slightly, Warren gave a humourless laugh. "Even after you changed you were fine with me until you tried to leave the room, then Darryl had to hold you down and you didn't take kindly to that. It was an accident, Warren, nothing more and I will never blame you for an accident.

He finally touched me again, placing his hand on my cheek, "I could never hurt you Kyle." He told me, I turned my head to the side and kissed his palm before leaning over and kissing him properly.

When we broke apart it seemed as though he was feeling a little bit better though I had a feeling that it would be awhile before he got over the guilt of hurting me. "How bad is it?" He asked, gently running his hands over the bandages again.

"Four slashes." I admitted and I was sure I heard a faint whine from him at that, the kind an upset dog would make, but it could have been my imagination. "Jesse patched me up at the time and Samuel checked me over while I was at Mercy's, he put a couple of stitches in to help pull the wounds together faster but over all I think I'm in better shape than you are."

"I'll heal quicker." He said almost sadly and I had a feeling that he'd happily take on my injuries as well as his own if he could. That would never work though since I felt exactly the same way about him.

I changed the subject. "So what did the good doctor say about you?" I asked

Warren smiled, "He said I could go home but I need someone with me since I have to stay off my ankle as much as possible so it'll heal faster. I told him that I was stopping with you."

"Good."

"But before we go Adam wants to talk to me."

I nodded, I thought that he would, after all the Alpha had promised that bastard Paul that he could challenge Warren once he was healed and I'm sure there was other stuff they needed to discuss. "Well than, you can talk to Adam while I go and get some groceries for us. I haven't been home since you were hurt so I dread to think what state the fresh stuff is in and I'm sure the bread looks like a science project by now."

That settled I helped Warren to get out of the bed after he complained that he was sick of it. His ankle was better but he was still limping badly. I had a feeling that it would take a long time for him to fully recover and if he had been merely human he would probably have needed surgery and months of physio. I helped him down the stairs but I noticed that as soon as we were within sight of someone else he stopped leaning on me as heavily and made every effort to hide how badly he was injured. I guessed it was to avoid showing weakness to an enemy and I should probably be honoured that he felt comfortable enough with me to show just haw badly he was hurting, but the main thought that came to mind was that it was more stupid werewolf games, as Mercy had put it.

Adam was in the main room of the house, along with Darryl and a couple of others I recognised as been part of the pack though I didn't know names. Bran was also still there though Charles and Anna weren't and I suspected they had already gone home, though where their home was I wasn't sure, if someone had told me I'd forgotten.

"Good to see you on your feet again Warren." Adam said was we walked in.

"Well a foot and a half." Warren admitted with a rueful grin, "But I'm getting better. Bran." He added, acknowledging the head werewolf with a nod of the head, meeting his gaze for only a brief moment before dropping his eyes respectfully. "You wanted to talk?" He continued turning had attention to Adam.

"Yes." The Alpha told him but he cast an uneasy look in my direction, as I had suspect Adam was uncomfortable discussing pack business in front of a human.

"That's my cue to leave." I said giving Warren a chaste kiss and then nudging him with my hip towards one of the chairs, I wanted him sat down before he fell down. "I need to go get some groceries in and than I'll be back to pick you up."

Warren nodded and I walked into the hall way to find that someone had hung my jacket up on one of the spare pegs, I was grateful to whoever it was because the last time I actually remembered seeing it was before Warren had changed to his wolf form. I wasn't sure if they realised that I could over hear them but as I pulled my jacket on I heard Bran ask Warren. "Is he yours?"

Unable to help myself I stilled to better hear Warren's answer. "If he'll have me."

"Your wolf has chosen?" Bran asked, surprise colouring his voice.

"Months ago." I was unable to draw out putting my coat on any longer and had to leave them but those few sentences had given me a lot to think about as I drove to the local store.

Warren wanted me back, that much was certain and the thought made me smile. It was Bran's question about Warren's wolf that confused me. I knew that Warren often referred to his wolf as an almost separate entity but I wasn't sure how that would affect him or us. I had an acute feeling that Warren's wolf choosing me was a very important and serious matter but I didn't know what it meant past that.

When I reached the store I abandoned further speculation in favour of finding something decent to eat for the next few days. In view of the fact that every meal anyone had made for Warren had been mainly meat I got several pieces and a pack of burgers, then I picked up the necessary vegetables before filling the rest of the basket with comfort food. We'd both been through a lot, physically and emotionally, and that called for comfort food. I mentally ran through an inventory of my cupboards before deciding that I did have everything I needed to make my grandmother's famous brownies.

I had paid for everything and was just putting it in the boot of my car when my cell buzzed, glancing at the caller id I saw it was my sister. "Hello Ally."

"Kyle! Finally!" I suppressed a groan, I knew that tone of voice, she'd been trying to get in touch with me for a while and I'd worried her by not answering, her next words confirmed it. "I've been worried sick, I've been trying to reach you for days, I've left you messages on your house and cell. Where the hell have you been?"

"The hospital." I quickly lied, it was the best that I could do on such short notice and I wasn't going to tell her what Warren was, it was his secret and so his choice who he told it to.

"Oh god!" Ally really sounded panicked now. "Are you aright? What happened? I can get right in the car."

"Ally breath." I told her firmly. "I am fine, I wasn't hurt. Warren was."

"Warren? You're ex?"

"Former ex." I correct and I swear my mature and grown up older sister squealed like a teenager at that.

"So you're back together again?" She asked, I made an affirmative noise and leant against the trunk of my car, it sounded like I would be here for a while. "That's good news, but what happened to him?"

"He stopped some gang from beating a young boy up and they beat him up instead." It was a pretty good story and I know that Ally would believe it. "Since Warren doesn't have any family round here, they called our friend Mercy who then called me. I'm amazed I didn't get any tickets getting to the hospital."

"Is he going to be alright?"

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "He's going to be fine they're letting him go this afternoon. I was just getting some groceries when you called, he's stopping with me while he recuperates."

I could hear Ally smile in her voice and I knew that she was happy that I was happy. "That's good to know, but if you need anything at all I'm just a call away and that invite to the pair of you for dinner still stands, someone in the family needs to vet your boyfriend you know."

"Well you are one of the few still talking to me." I reminded her, "And that reminds me, why did you call in the first place? Before my lack of response started you panicking."

"Oh, just to let you know that the invite to our Great-aunt's barbecue arrived, as usual she put your name on the end of our invite. I assume you aren't coming?"

"Probably not, I hate putting up with the match making all afternoon."

"You should bring Warren than." Ally said with a laugh, "If noting else it'll give them something to complain about and you know how our elderly relatives love to complain."

"I'll think about it." I promised but I still doubted I'd go with or without Warren.

"Well the kids would like to see you at least, they miss uncle Kyle."

"I miss them to but I need to go, Warren will be wondering where I got lost, my love to everyone."

"I will, bye Kyle."

"Bye Ally." I hung up the phone feeling oddly pleased about the call. I had never made a secret of the fact that I didn't need my family's approval of how I lived my life, which was a good thing since most of them certainly didn't approve. But it still made me happy to know that Ally at least was happy that Warren and I were back together. I allowed myself a brief smile that the thought of what would upset my parents more; that Warren was a man or that he was a werewolf?

The werewolves ha evidently finished their top secret discussions, whatever those might be, because when I returned to Adam's house, pausing to knock briefly before I let myself in, they were discussing Adam's daughter and ex-wife.

"I don't want her having custody anymore." Adam said, "She left her alone with no idea when she was coming back, just to run off with her latest lover. I want Jesse here permanently, she can't be any less safe here with me than on her own at the other end of the country."

"I know a good family lawyer, I worked with her before in custody cases." I said as I walked into the main room where the rest were still gathered, "And while this it's not my speciality but this seems to be a fairly clear cut case, especially with Jesse been old enough to decide where she wants to live. The only issue I can see is with Adam been a werewolf, that won't have come up in court before and if her mother protests that it could cause problems." I perched on the arm of Warren's chair and he placed his hand on my knee, genitally squeezing it.

"Adam's been a werewolf should be on his side," Bran pointed out. "No one could be more protective of his child than a wolf."

"Perhaps." I agreed, "But it is unknown and the courts don't like unknowns, especially in cases regarding a child. You'd need to show that this is a safe environment, do people know you're an alpha as well as a werewolf?" I asked Adam, he nodded, "That could potentially cause issues if your ex-wife tries to argue that werewolves constantly in and out of the house poses a danger to Jesse but hopefully she won't think of that. What you do need to do is prove that this is a safe home and that there is someone who will care for Jesse when you're off on business for Bran."

"I can help there." Warren volunteered, "It's not like I actually have a job at the moment."

"You might end up been outed." Adam warned him.

Warren shrugged, "So a slightly wide section of society dislikes me." he rubbed his hand over my leg again and I knew exactly what he meant, there was a fair amount of overlap between those who disliked homosexuals and those how dislikes the Fae, and now werewolves.

"Let me give you her number." I said, reaching into my jacket pocket and pulling out my card and a pen, flipping it over I wrote her name and number on the back, "Her name is Maya Lowell, tell her I gave you her number and this cancels the favour she owes, she'll know what you mean." I thought for a moment and then turned the card back to the printed side and added two more number, "Those are my home and cell, in case Warren gets in trouble again."

"Thank you." Adam said taking the card, he stood and went into another room, a moment later he returned and held out a car to me, "In case you need to contact me." I looked down and saw it was his business card, with his privet number written in pen across the top.

"Thank you." I told him, "Can I also send any clients your way that want to improve their home security?"

"Feel free."

Warren and I decided to leave then and once we were in the car I turned to him, "Do you want to stop by your place first and pick up some changes of clothes?" I asked, "You didn't leave that much stuff at mine." After we'd separated I'd left a fair bit of my stuff at his as well but I'd never asked for it back anymore than he'd asked for his, I think that if we had it would have given our separation a finality that neither of us wanted. As angry as I had been at him I don't think at any point I had really wanted to leave him permanently, not deep down anyway.

"That might be a good idea." He said, then he smiled over at me, "You made a good impression you know."

"Huh?" I asked as I pulled away from the sidewalk.

"With Adam and with Bran." Warren explained, "Bran actually said that it was regrettable that the rule about spouses only had caused so much trouble for us, which is as close to an apology as you are going to get from the Marrok. And if Adam didn't like you he certainly wouldn't have given you his privet number, there aren't many outside of the pack that have that."

"It's probably because I offered to help him with Jesse, but she's such a nice girl that it doesn't seem fair to stick her with someone who'll run off to another country with no warning."

"No one in the pack likes Christy, we don't even speak her name if we can help it. She is one of the most manipulative people ever to walk the Earth, when they divorced she didn't want Jesse, she wanted to stop Adam having her. There's worse too I think, but Adam and Jesse won't talk about it."

"They might need to for him to get custody." I pointed out.

"Do you think they'll be any trouble there?" Warren asked.

"Normally no. She's clearly unfit, but Adam is an unknown factor as far as his been a werewolf goes, there is a chance that the courts could feel that neither of them is a suitable guardian, in which case she would be put in care." I help up my hand to forestall Warren's protests. "That is unlikely but even if it did happen it should be fairly simple to get her guardianship turned over to another wolf in the pack, someone who isn't out."

"Or a human Adam trusts, like you or Mercy."

"Perhaps." I didn't argue, "But we can cross that bridge when we come to it." We sat in silence after that and I knew we were both thinking about the conversation we would need to have, it was bound to be difficult for the both of us. I needed to apologise for been such an idiot and Warren would have to tell me the truth, to stop hiding behind the lies he had used for over a century.

Fortunately it didn't take us that much longer to reach Warren's house, when I pulled up at the kerb Warren sighed, "You might want to come in, You left quite a bit here." He said as he got out.

"I think I knew I'd be back." I told him as I walked around the car to the sidewalk, Warren was leaning against the car and I had no doubt it was because his leg was giving him trouble, I remembered what Samuel had said about his injuries and vowed to get him to rest as soon as we got to mine. As I reached him I noticed the blinds of one of his neighbour's front windows twitching and I knew the noisy busybody was watching again. So, partly to give her something to watch and partly because I could, I leaned over and kissed Warren, he certainly didn't object.

* * *

AN: I have only seen and been caught up in UK custody battles so that's what I based the stuff with Jesse on, sorry if it's actually different in the US


	11. Blood Bound Part 8

AN: Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Or whatever you celebrate! Please try not to die of shock at another update so soon but here it is, well it gave me somethign to do while vegging out in a near coma after christmas dinner (my step-dad can really cook!)

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Warren was the one who broke the kiss, "We should hurry up." He told me firmly, I might have been more inclined to agree with that if I couldn't see the lust in his eyes, no doubt it matched my own. After months without him I was just dying to haul him off to bed and keep him there for a few days, unfortunately the nice doctor had told me no strenuous activities for a couple of days and that probably went double for Warren. As if to match my thoughts he continued, "Samuel told me to go easy on the leg."

As I watched him lead the way up his front steps I wondered to myself exactly how un-strenuous we could make the activities I had in mind. But I pushed those thoughts firmly from my mind, we needed to talk before we did anything else, no matter how much I, and I suspected Warren as well, might like to skip the difficult part and get straight to the more interesting and fun bit of making up.

I glance around Warren's house and noticed that it looked just about the same as it did the last time I was there, months earlier, a cheep student house. Mercy told me that all werewolves tend to be control freaks, they need to be, and that sometimes spills over into other areas of their lives such as their homes. Adam was certainly a good example of that; he believed in everything in its place, neat and tidy, it was how Mercy was able to torture him with a scrap car. Warren was less of a neat freak but even he usually remembered to clear away the plates after a meal, there were three plates on the dinning room table and I wondered, a little jealously, who the other two had been. Then I reminded myself that I had no right to be jealous.

Warren followed my gaze and sighed, "I forgot about those, Adam had me and Ben play bodyguards for Mercy and we all came back here for dinner, everything was so hectic for the last week, with hunting the vamp, that I forgot all about them. I should clear them."

He moved to do just that but I put my hand on his arm, "I'll do it." I told him, "You go get some stuff together." He didn't bother arguing and went upstairs while I headed into the dinning room and gathered the plates and silverware. It was a good thing that they'd all cleared their plates since after a week I dread to think how stuck on the food would be. I made a quick job of washing them in the sink, and throwing away the takeaway containers I assumed the food had come in. there was in fact a small mountain of take away containers and pizza boxes which lead me to assume that Warren had been living off take-out while he helped hunt the vampire. I filled a bag with all the containers and then dumped them in the trash can outside before I headed upstairs to find Warren. To my surprise I heard him in the guest bedroom rather than the main one, he obviously heard me coming because he looked up from where he was sitting on the bed as soon as I stepped through the door.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly as I saw that his clothes and alarm clock had been moved into the guest room and there was a stack of books next to the bed, suggesting he'd been sleeping there for a while. Warren looked embarrassed as he explained, "I couldn't sleep in our room, too many memories and your scent was so strong in there, even after I washed all the bedding, that if I closed my eyes it was like you were there but I knew you weren't and that hurt so much that I ended up sleeping in here." He waved his hand around at the walls of the guest room.

I sat down on the bed next to him and took his hand. "I understand." I assured him, "There were a few nights it was difficult for me as well." I was certain that the whole mate thing, which I had vowed he would explain, had made our separation harder on him than it was on me, which didn't seem fair to me since I was the cause.

The feel of Warren's lips on mine interrupted that train of thought and for several long minutes I allowed myself to enjoy the wonderful sensation of having him so close to me again. "This isn't packing that bag." He said when we finally parted and I smiled, he gave me a gentle push on the shoulder. "Go and get your stuff." He told me, "It's where you left it."

When I pushed open the door to what had been our room I realised that Warren had been understating matters, from the layer of dust on everything Warren had not set foot in that room for months. Though he wasn't a neat-freak by any stretch of the imagination not even Warren would usually allow a layer of dust like that to build up, I realised that he could hardly bring himself to set foot in the room let alone sleep there.

As I walked further into what had been our bedroom I realised everything was almost exactly where it had been the last time I was there, just before Mercy had brought an injured Adam to the house to hide him. The main difference between then and now was that the bed was neatly made, the last time I'd seen it the duvet had been kicked on the floor and the pillows were scattered over about half the room.

I opened one of the draws and found my shirts, ironed and neatly folded, including the one I had been wearing the day before I left. Warren must have washed and ironed it, the latter been something he rarely did for his own clothes.

I took out a few of my favourite shirts and then opened another drawer and realised that I had left a couple of my court ties there, I'd been looking for the grey striped one for weeks. While I had the chance I changed into some clean clothes since the ones I had been wearing were either borrowed or stained with blood, I was suddenly grateful my slacks were black or I'd have got some very interesting looks at the grocery store.

When Warren came in a few minutes later I was dressed and had a small pile of clothes I wanted to take home, mostly the things I tended to wear for work, the rest I left in the draws where it could stay until Warren and I had worked out living arrangements. The tee-shirt I had been wearing could be washed and returned to Adam, my slacks weren't destined for anywhere except the trash. I took the sports bag that he'd packed from himself, noticing that he'd left space for me to add some stuff, and gestured for him to take a seat, Samuel had said for him to stay off his leg as much as possible.

Opening the bag I sighed, Warren had all the packing skill of my nephew, my six year old nephew. It looked as though he had pulled things out of draws and tossed them in the bag which, knowing him, he probably had. Everything would need ironing before it could be worn and from the looks of it some of his jeans were developing holes again so it looked like I would be dragging him shopping again as soon as he could walk. I shot him a look, yes his hair could do with cutting again; how Warren managed to pull off the poor-arts-student look I will never know since, to my knowledge, he had never actually been to collage. But he still managed it very well when I wasn't there to bully him into making himself look more presentable.

He must have heard me sigh and could the look I gave him because he grinned at me, I loved that grin, it was the one that said 'I'm not even going to pretend to be sorry and you love me anyway'. The look I shot him back was clearly read as 'Why do I put up with you?' But my smiled took any possible sting out of it as I neatly added me clothes to the top of the bag and zipped it closed. "Come on." I told him and helped him to his feet.

When we pulled into my drive I parked the car and turned to Warren, "Will you be alright getting in on your own?" I asked.

"I'll be fine." He assured me, I was somewhat sceptical as he got out of the car stiffly but I didn't say anything. Instead I left him to it as I went to get the groceries from the trunk. After I got them and locked the car I followed Warren inside and found him leaning against Jane, and I think if Warren was leaning against me like that I would probably have a dreamy expression to rival the statue's.

"Fine huh?" I said, putting down the bags just inside the door and then going Warren's side and wrapping my arm around his waist, "I think you've over done it today." I pointed out as I helped him up the stairs.

"Possibly." Warren admitted. He was leaning quite heavily on me and I knew that his hiding his injuries in front of the other wolves had cost him.

"Certainly." I corrected as we reached the top of the stairs, the house had three bedrooms but I guided him to the master bedroom rather than one of the guest ones. I was certain I saw him smile as I pushed open the door and guided him to the bed. After he'd sat down and I'd helped him take off his shoes he lay back on the pillows and buried his nose in the one I usually used, breathing in my scent I was sure but before I could say anything he'd fallen asleep and looked far more relaxed than I had seen him in a long time.

I pressed a kiss to his forehead before quietly leaving the room,closing the door softly behind me before heading downstairs to take care of the groceries. As I had suspected most of the fresh produced I'd had in the house had gone off and the bread looked like something that belonged in a biohazard lab. I tossed it and everything else that had gone off in the trash and put the shopping away.

I made myself a coffee and went to check my messages, as promised there were several from my sister and I deleted them since I already knew what they were about. There was one each from my law partners, Mark and Geordi, both hoping that Warren was alright and promising that they would cover for me until I could come back to work.

The one from my mother I deleted without listening to, she couldn't have anything to say to me that I wanted to hear, Ally would have already passed on any important news. More than likely mother dearest was trying her matchmaking again, she had never and likely would never accept that I was simply not attracted to women and that would not change, nor was I going to marry for duty and that was that. If she wanted grandchildren she'd just have to be happy with Ally's two.

Next stop was my home office where I booted up the computer and logged into my email accounts. My privet one contained a few newsletters and the usual junk mail as well as several from my sister, who really had been persistent in trying to get hold of me.

My work account was no more interesting, I had a couple of emails from clients and a revised schedule for the next week from Marie, looking at it I could see I was going to be busy. Before I logged off I sent a quick message to Maya to let her know that Adam would likely be contacting her in the next few days.

Remembering that not all the world used in the internet for communication I went to collect my mail, scanning it as I walked back up the drive. Bill, bill, advert, bill. Nothing that needed to be taken care of immediately, I stopped by the car and grabbed the bag with our clothes in since I simply hadn't had enough hands to bring it in earlier. In the house I tossed the mail on the table in the hall, despite the coffee I'd just drunk I yawned and decided that perhaps a nap sounded like a good idea so I hefted the bag of clothes over my shoulder and headed upstairs.

Warren was still stretched out in almost exactly the position I'd left him so I took a few minutes to quietly put away my clothes. Then I shook out Warren's and put away the ones that weren't too badly creased, the rest would just have to wait until I could be bothered to iron them which was certainly not at that exact moment in time. I had worked as quietly as possible so as not to disturb him though I suspected that a small bomb going off next to him wouldn't have woken the sleeping werewolf.

I took a moment to take off my shoes and then pressed a kiss to Warren's forehead before laying down next to him. Careful to avoid the bruising I wrapped my arm around him and insistently felt the muscles in his back and shoulders relax further. I closed my eyes and it wasn't long before I too was asleep.

I was woken after a few hours by Warren moving restlessly in my arms, I opened my eyes and realised that he was still asleep, caught in the grip of a nightmare. "Warren." I shook his shoulder gently but it didn't wake him, "Warren, it's only a dream you're safe. Warren." I shook his shoulder harder, slightly worried about doing more damage but far more concerned about waking him.

He gasped and his eyes snapped open, locking on to me and then relaxing back onto the pillows, "Kyle."

"I'm here." I said brushing the hair out of his eyes.

"I cried out for you." He admitted, "He hurt me, then dumped me and all I wanted was you."

"I'm here now."

He pulled me down into a hug and burred his face in the side of my neck. "When I first caught your scent at Adam's I thought I was imagining it, even when I heard your voice and I wanted so badly to believe you were there a part of me still doubted."

"What changed your mind?" I asked

"My wolf, he heard you and trusted you, he wouldn't do that for anyone but you."

"Explain that to me?" I didn't want to push but this was one of those needed conversations.

Warren sighed and released me slightly so that I could lean back on the pillows, then he curled against my side, his head pillowed on my chest, this was fast becoming a favourite position of his. "Most of us who live long enough refer to our wolf as a separate creature. For some its a very clear split for, others its almost impossible to tell wolf from man. My wolf is still a part of me and under my control, mostly, but separate from the human."

It sounded like every single werewolf had split personality disorder to one degree or another, but the thought of any of the werewolves, especially Darryl, sat in a therapist's office was almost enough to make me giggle. I suppressed it and asked, "So why did you trust that what your wolf saw was real?"

"I don't think a wolf can hallucinate, and he listened to you, trusted you."

"I don't understand."

"It's hard to explain." Warren was silent for a minute or two, lazily playing with the buttons on my shirt. "The wolf wants you as much as the man does. The wolf is instinct and he still thinks of you as his, even when we were apart he thought of you as his mate. A wolf will trust his mate above everyone else, even his Alpha, so he obeyed you."

"And you believed because the wolf doesn't make things up."

"Exactly."

We lay there for a while longer while I thought about it, I'd spent long enough hearing the other werewolves refer to the wolf as separate that it didn't surprise me that much to hear Warren do it to. Been told that his wolf wanted me was a little creepy I must admit, especially after having met his wolf the other day, but strangely that meeting was also reassuring. The wolf had listened to me just as Warren said, he'd let me pet him like a dog, while he'd tried to gut Darryl.

But the conversation had raised another question. "Honey called me your mate, but Darryl seemed to disagree."

Warren understood my need for clarification. "On the whole wolves believe that mates must be opposite sexes, which is probably why Darryl didn't believe it was possible but Honey knew better, she's a friend and one of the ones that Adam sent to check up on me after, well after you found out about me. She saw how I was and she knew."

I was about to apologise for everything, I really was, but then Warren's stomach growled and I decided that feeding the still injured werewolf was probably the safer bet, my apology would wait. "That sounded like an angry wolf." I laughed, "I'll go get you something." He looked like he was about to argue to I rushed on before he could, "Samuel said you were to rest and he doubted I could keep you there even another day, so now I have to prove him wrong even if I need to tie you to the bed."

"Not like we haven't done that before." Warren put in.

"Besides." I continued as if he hadn't interrupted, "Don't you remember me promising to wait on you hand and foot if you lived?" He shook his head. "Well I did and I will, no arguments." Either he got the message or he was just hungry because he stopped arguing and lay back on the pillow.

"Go then minion." He said waving his hand towards the door, "Fetch my food." I laughed as I rolled out of bed and then threw a pillow him. I'd reached the door when Warren called out after me, "Could you cook it more than Honey did? I like my meat slightly better done than that, her stake looks like it should be able to walk off the plate."

"I will." I promised as I jogged down the stairs. Cooking gave me a chance to think and to plan what I was going to say, although I had decided that I would apologise to Warren the last few days had been too full of worry, first for him and then for Mercy, to plan exactly what I was going to say.

I didn't bother with anything fancy, just stake potatoes and mixed greens, and the simplicity of the meal gave me more time to think. I would have to apologise for running out on him like I did, and for been so stubborn as to allow our separation to continue a long as it did. I would need to make him see that I accepted what he was and that he wouldn't always be able to tell me everything but at the same time he couldn't simply shut me out of that part of his life completely.

I finished dinner and found the seldom used tray that my sister had given me when I first moved in, piling the plates, silverware and two glasses of water on, I took it back up stairs.

While I was cooking Warren had evidently found the remote for my music system, which shouldn't have been hard seen as how it was on the bedside table, and put some music on, from the sounds of it he hadn't bothered to change the CD so we were listening to the Lord of the Rings Soundtrack. Warren had pulled himself up into a sitting position and was leaning back against the headboard with his eyes closed but he opened them as soon as I stepped into the room.

"Ah the minion returns."

"Keep it up and I'll eat it all myself." His puppy eyes made me relent, "Fine than I'll just have to play good nurse and leave you to rest in peace."

I wondered if I imagined the momentary flash of horror that crossed Warren's face before it was replaced by a grin, "Fine I'll behave."

"Good." I handed the tray to him and climbed on the bed next to him.

"You hungry?" Warren commented looking at the tray on his lap and specifically at the fact that one plate had twice as much food on it as the other did.

"Very funny." I said taking the other plate, "That's for you, Jesse said to keep you well fed." And in spite of his complaining he still cleared his plate faster then I did mine.

When we'd finished eating I piled our plates back on the tray and set it on the floor beside the bed before I turned to Warren and said. "We need to talk."

"I know." Warren agreed though he didn't look particularly happy about it but I'm sure he knew as well as I did that we couldn't leave things how they were.

"Let me go first." I said, "And please don't say anything until I'm finished." He nodded and I took one of his hands in both of mine. "Warren, I'm sorry, I was an idiot. I let fear of the unknown blind me to what we had and most of all I'm sorry for leaving you in limbo as I did, I should have either gone back to you or ended it but I certainly shouldn't have left you hanging for months."

"Kyle." Warren tried to interrupt but I put my finger on his lips.

"Let me finish remember?" He kissed my finger and nodded so I took a deep breath and continued. "When Mercy first told me I was afraid, of you and of werewolves in general. I might have be raised with the idea of the Fae but I was also raised on with horror movies, and I let that fiction blind me to the fact that you would never hurt me."

Warren raised his hand to touch my chest and the bandages under my shirt.

I smiled, "I told you, that wasn't deliberate, you were aiming for Darryl." Then I sobered up, "But it wasn't long before anger replaced fear and I became so angry with you, angry that you weren't the one to tell me, that you'd kept everything secret from me, that you were going to let it destroy us rather than tell me the truth. Even though Mercy told me what the penalty would have been if you'd told me, the angry part didn't care about that.

"And as long as we were apart it was easier to stay angry at you, because then I could pretend out separation wasn't all my fault, and I didn't have to blame myself for the pain I could see in your eyes every time we saw each other. And the longer we were apart the harder it became to find the courage to go back to you, to face my mistakes. I think the work you've been doing for me the last couple of weeks was my way of trying to get close to you again without my damned pride getting in the way.

"Then Mercy called and everything became clear, I knew werewolves could heal quickly and if you were hurt enough to worry Mercy then you were close to death and that realisation, that you might die without every hearing me apologise, made everything so simple. What mattered was you and me and the fact that I love you, everything else could be sorted out."

"So you came back because you though I was dying?"

"You did die Warren," I told him, the remembered fear of the moment I'd realised he wasn't breathing making my own breath catch in my throat. "You stopped breathing and your heart stopped beating, it took me and Samuel to bring you back, and the thought of loosing you cemented the decision that I wanted back. Did you know that before Mercy told me she asked me if I loved you, as in the ' I'll-follow-you-to-death-and-beyond' kind of love. I told her I did and when I heard you stop breathing I knew for certain that that had not changed."

Warren leaned over and kissed me, "I didn't know." He told me, "All I remember is the pain and voices, then I heard you and I knew it would be alright." This time I was the one who kissed him. We parted and he placed his finger on my lips, "My turn now, you aren't the only one who let our separation continue but I was scared that if I pushed to hard you'd end it permanently and I'd like to think I have more self-respect than to go running around after you like a lovesick teenager." He snorted and shook his head, "Instead I stayed at home and pined in privet."

He gave me a soft kiss, "I do want you in my life Kyle, I want you to know everything about me,I always did but I couldn't tell you, so many times I wanted to, tried to, but the order of the Alpha is just too strong."

"I understand that now." I told him, "I didn't originally but then I saw Adam with the rest of the pack and I understood, they couldn't disobey him anymore than you would have been able to. I don't blame you for not telling me."

"I did want to." He said again. "Now I'll tell you anything you want about me, I still can't tell you everything about the pack or the structure beyond that but I'll tell you what I can." He promised.

"That will be enough," I promised him in return, "Just don't shut me out anymore, and tell me the truth when you get calls at stupid hours of the night and have to disappear."

"I will do." He knew as well as I did just how annoying I had found that. We kissed again and it was wonderful, even though we were both under doctor's orders not to do anything more than that. It had been so long since we'd just spent time making out, without it been the prelude to something else. How long we kissed for I'm not sure but it must have been a while since my music system had worked it's way through two of the three Lord of the Rings sound tracks and was on Return of the King when we finally parted.

"So what does it mean when you call me your mate?" I asked, he'd told me some but I knew there had to be more.

Warren sighed, "I told you that the wolf and human co-exist, generally the human falls in love first and then the wolf either accepts the partner or doesn't, if the wolf accepts then the couple are mates. So you can be married without been mates, like Adam and his ex-wife, but usually the wolf accepts sooner or later. In fact I've even heard that there have been cases where the wolves chose first and left the human sides to follow."

"Really?" I asked intrigued, this split personality thing with the werewolves just got more and more interesting.

"From what I heard that's what happened to Charles Cornick and his mate Anna, Samuel couldn't stop laughing about it when he told us." I remembered Anna as been possibly the kindest wolf I had yet met and if I'd been straight I might even have been a little jealous of Charles, seeing the love between her and Charles made me hope that one day Warren and I would have that.

Then I remembered something something Bran had asked Warren and I wanted to check, "So I'm your mate?"

"If you want to be." He said, "My wolf accepted you nearly a year ago."

So long, I hadn't thought about that, we hadn't known each other more than two years and for a year of that we'd essentially be married in werewolf terms. "That only made our separation harder didn't it?" I asked brushing his hair back,"Mercy called me and told me you were refusing to change back, that you were curled up in the middle of the room, she sounded really worried."

"I thought I'd lost you." Warren admitted softly, "My wolf was mourning for you like you were dead. That's what had Mercy and Adam so worried, they've both seen wolves suicide after loosing their mate, in Mercy's case it was her foster father."

"She told me he'd died." I admitted.

"After his wife died attempting the change he jumped in a river." he saw my confusion, "It's the easiest way for a wolf to kill himself, we have too much dense muscle and too little fat to be able to swim."

I was tempted to make a comment about Warren and fat but I knew it really wasn't the time. "Is that what Mercy and Adam were worried about? That you'd go swimming in the Columbia?"

He nodded, "It helped when you told Mercy that you thought we still had a chance, besides my parents raised me not to run away from my problems."

I kissed him, "I'm here now and I'm going to stay."

"Good." Warren told me, "Because I don't think I can let you go again, it took everything

I had to let you go the first time, now you're mine."

"You won't hear me objecting." I assured him and then decided to turn the topic of conversation to other important and less distressing areas. "So the pack, how does it work? And where do you fit into everything?"

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AN: And that was an extra long chapter for you as well, next update will proabably be around New Year. Please Review


	12. Blood Bound Part 9

AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR, I think I'm spoiling you with all these updates, don't get used to it! I'm afraid we'll be back to less frequent now the holiday dseason is over

Dedicated to Mouf-Mouf, you are quite possibly my most loyal reviewer, thank you!

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To his credit Warren made a valiant effort to explain the pack structure to me and I did managed to understand the basics such as the difference between a dominant wolf and a submissive wolf, what Adam's role as Alpha meant and where Warren fitted into everything. As for the details, well I decided that Mercy was right, you needed to be a werewolf to understand and I was simply happy with what I did know.

Warren also explained beyond the pack, telling me who Bran, Charles, Anna and even Samuel were until I probably knew more about the werewolf world then I really should have done. I knew I would have to keep it to myself, most of the country realised that there must be someone in charge of the werewolves, someone above the Alphas who were already out but Bran wanted to keep his identity secret in case things turned nasty. I thought he'd probably manage that quite easily, no one would ever suspect him of been the Marrok. His son Charles or even Adam both looked like more likely candidates. But as I knew all too well appearances can and are deceiving.

The days that followed were idyllic, as Warren's injuries continued to heal we spent hours just talking as we had never done before. Warren told me in great detail about the times he had lived through and the things he'd seen. At my prompting he told me about the trouble that had been going on seven months earlier, and I laughed as he related Jesse's bitching about his hair cutting skills.

"Anyone who's looked at yours, darling, should know that you know nothing about cutting hair." I said, laughing as I tousled his hair.

"Well not all of us feel like sitting in a salon every week." He replied messing up my hair in return, "Besides this was when you were still around to bully me into dressing up a bit."

"And that's starting again you know." I felt it only fair to warn him, "Once you're better, it's shopping time followed by an appointment at the salon."

"As long as I'm with you I don't care." That last sentence had lead to another intense make out session, we still held back on the physical side of our relationship because of Warren's injuries but that didn't reduce the intensity of what we did allow ourselves.

While our days were good our nights were less so, Warren suffered from terrible nightmares about what had happened. At first he refused to talk to me about it but after the third night in a row he finally broke down. It had been a particularly bad dream, Warren's restlessness usually woke me and then I woke him but this time it took me a good ten minutes to wake him His eyes shot open and his hands reached out, desperately seeking me. "Kyle?" He was always fearful and confused when he woke from these dreams, unsure what was the dream and what was real.

"I'm here." I said catching one of his questing hand in mine,he immediately reached for me and calmed as I allowed him to pull himself into my arms, burying his face in my shoulder. "I'm here love." I assured him, "You're safe now, it's alright." I continued to mummer soft reassurances and endearments as Warren fought to calm his still panicked breathing. Finally when I heard his breathing slowing and felt the slight tremors that had wrecked his body calm completely I said, "You need to talk to someone about this, if not me than Mercy or Adam. You can't keep all this bottled up, I don't like seeing you hurting like this Warren, please let me help."

He was silent for a long time and then pushed gently on my shoulders until I was laying on my back and he could curl against my side with his head on my chest. I thought he was going to refuse, as he had the two previous nights, but after several minutes of silence he started talking in a voice so soft I had to strain to hear what he said.

"Stefan was the one who worked out where Littleton was so we went after him just after sunset, but some how he knew we were coming because he was waiting for us. He was so stronger, stronger then just a vampire would be, he had magic as well and he used it to capture us, put us in cages. The demon, I could feel it eating away at my control,, I could feel the wolf rising, angry and furious at been caged. It was worse for Ben, he has less experience at controlling his wolf without the benefit of the pack. For the most part Littleton ignored us and Daniel the other vampire, he focused on Stefan, interrogating him, I tried to reach out to the pack but I couldn't feel them, Littleton must have done something to block us.

"Eventually he turned his attention to us, Ben was loosing it I could tell, he wasn't far from changing, I could see, feel it. I tried to help him, when Littleton ordered him to change I was able to stop him and when Littleton tried the same on me I resisted, just. That enraged him, he used his magic to hold me still and pulled me out of the cage, dragged me upstairs to the main floor of the church. I remember wondering what the hell a vampire was doing in a church. He said that if I was the best my Alpha could do then he must be truly pathetic. He pulled out a silver dagger and told me that he'd show Adam what he thought of his best."

Warren shuddered in my arms and I stroked his hair soothingly as I waited patiently for him to continue. "He cut me, stabbed me, the silver burnt me, he broke my bones and laughed when I screamed. Nothing ever hurt like that, not even becoming a werewolf, it all blurs together, the agony and his laughing, taunting me." I hugged him tighter to me and it seemed to help him since he was able to continue, "He tried again to make me change but I wouldn't, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction and I was scared of what he might do if I did.

"I don't know how he got me to the dumpster that Adam said I was found in, I remember been grateful that he'd stopped adding to the pain and then I could smell the trash and Fae but what I really remember is the cold and the pain, Samuel says I was in shock and I suppose he'd know best, I was certainly delirious at several points. I was wishing someone would find me, I honestly didn't care who, I just didn't want to die alone like that." I hugged him tightly to me, partly to comfort him and partly to assure myself that he was with me and safe again.

"I thought about you." Warren admitted quietly, "Thinking of you helped, knowing that you were safe at home calmed my wolf, knowing that he couldn't hurt you like he had me." He pressed a kiss to my chest, "I don't know how long I was there for but Adam says it must have been hours, I was in agony and thinking about you was the only thing that helped. I must have passed out because the next thing I felt was Adam's power and I knew I was safe." I felt him smile against my chest, "I drifted in and out of it but then I heard your voice, I couldn't tell what you said but I knew it was your voice, I thought I was imagining it. The next time I was properly conscious I remember pain, then Adam telling me to be calm and you threatening to punish me if I died."

"I would have." I told him, "If you had died I'd have found you and kicked your ass into the middle of next week."

Warren smiled, "With you there I had a lot to live for, I fought because if you were there with me, then maybe you would let us be together again and that hope, more than anything else, made me want to live."

I lifted him head off my chest and kissed him, "We're together now, you're safe and Littleton is dead.." Warren made a small noise of agreement but seemed more interested in kissing his way down my neck, I turned my head and captured his lips again, clearly we were done with talking for the night, which was even more obvious went he hooked his less injured leg over my hip, pulling me against him.

We were still under doctor's orders to take it easy, which meant no sex, but I knew that Warren needed this, he needed the physical contact to assure him that we were both safe after his nightmare. He needed to be close to me, and after what he had just told me I needed it as much as he did. Besides there was plenty we could do that didn't strictly speaking class as intercourse.

A couple of days later Mercy visited us along with Samuel, both wanted to check up on us though for Samuel it was in a more professional capacity.

"Hey Mercy." I said as she hugged me the minute I opened the door, "How are you?"

"My shoulder's feeling better and I can walk so I can't complain. You?"

I knew that she was asking about more than just the physical injuries that Warren and I had sustained. "We're great." I assured her as if the grin on my face couldn't do that on its own. "Samuel." I said holding out my hand to the other man who wasn't looking all that good, Warren said that the demon was murder on a werewolf's control and Samuel had spent quite a long time with him, not to mention from some hints Warren, Anna and even Samuel himself had dropped the doctor hadn't been in such good shape to begin with.

"Kyle."

"Are you going to stand in the hall all day?" Warren shouted from the lounge, I laughed and gestured for the others to follow me, Mercy closed the door behind her and they followed me into the lounge where Warren was sat on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, a habit I just couldn't seem to break him of, with a coffee in one hand an the news paper in the other, it was open to the cross word that we had been working on together.

"Hey Mercy," Warren said looking up from the paper, his eyes flicked over Mercy and then settled on Samuel holding his gaze until the other wolf looked away, no doubt more werewolf politics. Warren turned his attention back to Mercy. "Do you know where the 'Flanders Mare' was from? It's six letters and the third letter is an e."

"Cleves." Mercy said.

"It fits," Warren said after a moment, "How'd you know?"

"European History major," She explained, "Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of Henry the Eighth of England, she was so ugly he called her the 'Flanders Mare' and divorced her after six months."

"That's still longer than some celebrity weddings." I said.

Samuel just shook his head, "If the history lesson is over for the minute, Kyle shirt off." He ordered.

"See what I mean?" I asked Warren as I pulled my shirt off, "Just dying to get my clothes off." I smirked at him but Warren seemed more interested in watching my naked chest, or maybe he was just keeping an eye on Samuel to make sure he didn't try anything with me, even thought be both knew the good doctor was far too interested in Mercy to even consider anyone else let alone another man. That said it was likely just a territorial thing.

Samuel carefully unwound the bandages around my stomach and Warren whined slightly at the sight of the four slashes he had inadvertently given me, I looked over at him and saw he looked horrified, he had accepted on an intellectual level that he had accidentally hurt me while in his wolf form but this was the first time he had seen the damage with his own eyes and it seemed to have brought up the guilt again.

"Not your fault remember?" I told him firmly, "You were trying to gut Darryl; he ducked fast, I didn't." He got off the sofa and came to stand behind me, his head on my shoulder and his hands on my hips out of Samuel's way but still pulling me against him, I turned my head to the side and kissed his cheek.

"These are looking much better." Samuel commented, I wished he poke a little more gently. "The stitches can come out."

"Joy." I commented as Samuel reached for the bag he'd brought with him. Having stitches out ranks fairly high on the list of things I don't want to have to go through again but having Warren stood behind me, holding me, certainly made it better.

"So how are things?" Mercy asked as Samuel set to work.

"Better." Warren said, kissing the side of my neck. "We talked and talked, now he knows everything and he's still prepared to stick around."

"So he forgave you then?" Mercy asked me.

"Yes, and apparently he's not going to let me go again. As if I'd want to." I added kissing Warren.

Before we could say anything more Samuel interrupted, "Alright then, that's you taken care of Kyle. You can put your shirt back on but you don't need the bandages, time will take care of the rest. I'm afraid you will probably be left with scars but they shouldn't be too bad, though if anyone asks how you got them." He trailed off

I nodded, "A nasty incident with a dog while I was in collage, certainly not a werewolf." I knew that there were some aspects of werewolf life that needed to be kept from the general public, just as I'm certain that the Fae had kept some darker secrets from the public when they came out.

Samuel nodded and then turned to Warren, "Your turn." Warren didn't say anything as he stripped to his boxers, I guess if you change form often enough you get used to been naked in front of others. "So how long did you manage to keep him in bed for?" Samuel asked.

I smirked, "Three days." I told him, remembering Samuel telling me he'd be lucky to keep in there one.

"I might call you the next time I need a wolf to rest." Samuel said though his matching smirk showed that he knew exactly how I'd kept Warren in bed.

Warren just glared at Samuel, "Mine." He growled as he pulled off his jeans, over the past few days I'd watched as Warren's injuries healed, lacerations gave way to smooth unmarked skin while bruises faded, he was still limping but it looked to be getting better as well so I assumed the other internal injuries were healing properly too.

"Wolves can get so possessive can't they?" Mercy said in an aside to me that got her glares off both the wolves in the room. "Well you're looking better." She added to Warren and I realised that she hadn't actually seen Warren since he'd managed to tell that Littleton was at a church. Compared to that Warren did look an awful lot better, I tried not to remember what he had looked like then. Warren wasn't the only one who had the occasional nightmares, I'm certain the image his him lying battered and bleeding on that bed, of him dying, will be with me for the rest of my life.

"And he'll look even better soon because once Samuel give the go head I'm taking Warren shopping and then for a hair cut, honestly love you are starting to look like Tarzan again. Besides my sister has reissued that invite to dinner." I added.

"Ah, have to civilise the savage werewolf before you can take him home." Mercy said with a grin, Warren glared at us.

"Well I don't know about taking him home." I said, "But what do you think would upset my parents more; that Warren is a man or that he's a werewolf?"

"Kind of a moot point since you never intend to introduce me." Warren muttered and I sensed I'd hit a sour spot. So Warren want to be introduced to my family, he'd never said anything about it but if that was what he wanted then I would see that I introduced him to at least my sister and her family as soon as possible.

However on the subject of my parents, "Trust me Warren, my parents pretty much refuse to see me anymore, except for my mother trying to set me up with eligible ladies, so you aren't missing anything by not meeting them, though if you want to crash my great-aunt's family barbecue we can test it?"

He smiled at me then and I knew that I was forgiven, even so he would still be meeting my sister as soon as possible.

"Don't forget you have that jerk Paul to deal with first." Mercy reminded us.

Ah yes, the homophobic jerk, head of the we-hate-Warren-because-he's-gay faction, I had tried to put the fact that Adam gave him permission to fight Warren out of my mind, but that didn't make it go away. I were seriously unhappy about the prospect of Warren getting into another fight but from the grin on Warren's face he wasn't.

"Oh I haven't forgotten." Then he saw the look on my face, "Don't worry Kyle, I've been looking forward to the chance to kick Paul's hairy ass all the way to Seattle for a while now, I've just been waiting for the excuse." I still must not have looked happy because Warren pushed Samuel away from where he was examining his leg and walked over to me, cupping my chin. "I've fought hundreds of times, not much choice when you're a lone wolf." He shot a look at Samuel, "And not the Marrok's son." He turned his attention back to me, "I'll be fine love, honest. I'm the second most dominant wolf in the pack after all, so do you really think Paul has a chance?"

I kissed him and then turned to Samuel, "You'll make sure he doesn't fight until he's well enough to win." I looked over at Mercy, "Promise?" It wasn't that I doubted Warren's abilities, I just didn't want him to be hurt any more than was absolutely necessary. I'd accepted he had to fight but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"I promise Kyle." Mercy said with a smile, Samuel just nodded and hauled Warren back over to the couch to continue his examination. "Adam's been making noises about coming out here to check up on you."

Warren looked over at me and I knew he was asking if I was alright with Adam knowing where I lived, I nodded my head once and then let my eyes slide to Samuel before shaking my head, hoping that Warren would understand the message.

"You can give him Kyle's address Mercy, but could you ask him to not give it to the rest of the pack? I'll sleep better is Paul and his gang don't know where Kyle lives."

"You don't honestly think they'd try something do you?" Mercy asked, "Adam would have them out the pack like lightening for attacking another wolf's mate."

Warren shook his head, "Of course not but still."

Mercy turned to me, "What did I tell you? Possessive and over protective."

"I think that's just called been in love Mercy." I said remembering that I was the one who was getting worried over him fighting in the first place.

"Well." Samuel said pulling everyone's attention back to him, "Looks like everything is healing properly. I assume Adam wants to get this challenge out of the way as soon as possible?"

"Of course and so do I, preferably before the next full moon."

"Well give it another five days and you'll be well enough to beat him, but your leg is probably going to be a month or so before it's back to normal."

"So long?" Warren sounded surprised.

"Warren he just about removed you leg with a silver knife." Samuel said, "Not to mention I think he removed a few parts, it takes time for even a wolf to heal from that."

"Removed some parts?" Mercy asked, I was too shocked to say anything

"When I was stitching him up I noticed that there seemed to be one or two muscles missing, along with the associated tendons. There was nothing I could do sand since there was so much else going on I didn't mention it at the time." He turned back to Warren, "Your body will heal the damage but it's going to take time."

"Are you sure Littleton is dead?" I asked Mercy, she nodded seeming as horrified as I was at Samuel's description, "Shame, because I have an overwhelming urge to beat him into dust."

"You'll have to settle for the ashes I burnt him to." Mercy said, "Still it should keep the rest off your back if you can beat Paul while injured."

"There is that." Warren said with a grin, he was pulling back in his jeans and shirt, a bit of a shame in my opinion but with any luck I'd be able to strip them off him again later. "So what's the prescription Doc?"

"You could do with gaining some weight, you've lost quite a bit and not just from the injuries, you've lost quite a few pounds over the last few months. Other than that you still need rest if you're planning on accepting Paul's challenge before the next moon, but some moderate exercise would do you good and I'm certain that Kyle will be able to help you out there. Otherwise just keep up what you've been doing and you'll be fine."

"Excellent." I said with a grin which Warren returned.

Mercy's cheeks was flushed, "We seem surplus to requirement." I wondered is she could smell out arousal as well as Samuel would be able to, even if she couldn't our jeans weren't cut that loose that they hid what we were planning the moment she and Samuel were out the door. "I think we should be going now."

"Yes." Samuel agreed with a laugh, he was making sure he had everything back in his bag. "Or they might not care enough to stop."

Once again I resisted the temptation to hit the doctor, instead I began herding him and Mercy towards the door, Warren helped clearly as eager to be alone as I was. "Well than you coming." I told them

"Yes." Warren agreed, "It was good to see you Mercy, I'm glad you're alright."

Mercy was nearly laughing as we hustled her out the door. "Good night."

"Night." Warren and I both said at once as we closed the door.

"I'll warn Adam to call first." She shouted back through the closed door but Warren and I paid her no attention. We only had eyes for each other and both were breathing hard, for a moment we just stared at each other, who moved first I have no idea but the next moment we were all over each other, hand grasping at clothing, pushing it aside, mouths devouring each other. Tonight there would be no need to stop, tonight we could do exactly what we wanted, what we had wanted to do for the past several days but knew we couldn't.

I finally managed to reassemble enough of my very scattered wits to remember that there was a very nice king sized bed upstairs, far comfier than the hall wall, floor or even the couch. "Bedroom." I gasped as Warren broke our heated kiss to trail burning kisses down my neck instead.

Warren raised his head to look at me, "Definitely." He began tugging me towards the stairs. We made it to our bedroom but left a trail of clothes behind us, finally reaching our room I kicked the door open and pulled Warren through, turning us around and then pushing him back onto the bed. He hook one of his legs behind me and pulled me down on top of him, then he rolled us over until he was on top of me, he grinned down at me.

"I've missed this, missed been this close to you."

I grinned back, "You are definitely not the only one. Now lets do something about that." I pulled his head back down to mine and we set about making up for lost time. Needless to say we didn't actually get back out of bed until noon the next day and only a minimal amount of that time was actually spent sleeping.

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AN: I've had a request from 'someone' (Love the pen name) for a scene where Warren meets Kyle's sister, well sorry but it's not going to be in this bit of the story. However I am open to putting it in later and welcome suggestions from everyone on what they might like too see in that (I don't promise to used all, some, or any of the suggestions but I do welcome them.) Either put it in a review or PM me.


	13. Blood Bound Part 10

AN: Here's the next chapter for you to enjoy and can I ask you to please read the note at the bottom of this chapter

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As promised the next day I took Warren shopping, we started off by getting lunch at restaurant we both liked and then I dragged him to get some new jeans since out of the five pairs he'd brought to my house, three had at least one hole in, that might be the fashion with certain age groups but not for anyone over twenty five and certainly not far a more than a hundred year old werewolf.

After shopping Warren submitted to the torture of my usual salon and got his hair trimmed, since I'd miss my appointment earlier in the week due to Warren been hurt I got my hair done at the same time. I was lucky enough that my usual stylist had had a cancellation and could fit me in. I met Warren's eyes in the mirror and he smiled me, reminding me of just what I'd promised him as a reward for putting up with this. His hair wasn't trimmed as short as mine, partly because slightly longer hair suited him and partly because he didn't have to go to court every week as I did.

After we were done at the salon we went back to my house and I started on the first part of the reward I had promised Warren, chocolate brownies, the second half of the reward would come later. While the brownies were in the oven I started making a sweet and sour stir-fry for dinner, I let Warren help by chopping the vegetables. I was trying to expand his cooking skills but for the moment Warren's idea of a proper meal was a takeaway menu. That said he did do a mean stew.

We were just finishing dinner when the phone rang, I answered.

"Hello."

"Kyle? It's Adam."

"Hello Adam." I walked back into the dinning room, "Do you want to talk to Warren?"

"Is he there?"

"Sat next to me, do you want me to pass the phone over?"

"No he can hear what I'm saying, can't you Warren?"

"Evening Adam." Warren said with a grin, then added to me, "That's the problem with werewolf hearing, no such thing as a privet call but the advantage is there's no need for a speaker phone if you want a conference call. What can we do for you?"

"I was planning on visiting you tonight but Mercy said I might want to call first to make sure you aren't, busy." The pause before the final word let us know that Adam knew exactly what Mercy had meant.

"We're just finishing dinner." I told him.

"And we can certainly stay un-busy for a while if you're coming round." Warren added.

"I'd appreciate it." Adam said, "I meant what I said when you join the pack Warren but I still don't want to see it any more than I'd want to see Darryl and Auriele."

"Thank you Adam, I've just eaten." I told him, I really did not need the image of Darryl and his wife in my head thank you very much, that man had just pissed me off far too much recently.

Warren laughed, "We'll see you later then."

"I'll be round at some point tonight." Adam promised and hung up.

I set the phone down on the table next to my empty plate, "You know, I don't think I've heard how you joined the pack yet." Before all he'd said was that Mercy had introduced him to Adam, now I had a feeling there was more to the story than that.

"It was just after Adam moved in behind Mercy's place." Warren told me, "We were having dinner when we both heard one of the wolves howl. It's hard for a lone wolf, you instinctively want a pack and hearing them so close, and knowing I couldn't have that, was difficult. I was also afraid that I was about to loose the only friend that actually knew anything about me. There was no way I'd be able to keep visiting Mercy if her next door neighbour was a pack Alpha, he's never allow it. I knew I'd be lucky to be allowed to stay in the city."

"But Adam puts up with Samuel living next door." I pointed out.

"That's special circumstances, besides Adam knows Samuel, trusts him. He didn't know me than and an unknown wolf in his territory would be a danger, especially so close to his daughter, Jesse would have been six or seven at the time." Warren explained. "Adam summoned me to his house the next night, he interrogated me for two hours, he wanted to know everything. Where I was from, how I was changed, who helped me to gain control of my wolf, if I'd ever been part of a pack, why I wasn't now."

Warren looked at me, "That last question was very important, there are two categories of lone wolves; those who don't want to be a part of a pack and those who aren't accepted, usually because they're dangerous. Once Adam realised that I wasn't accepted because of my sexuality he gave me an choice, he wouldn't allow a lone wolf to remain in his territory but if I wanted he would allow me to join his pack. He said that his wolves needed to be able to follow orders and that the rest of my life, including who I wanted to take to bed, was my problem, provided it was legal and consensual."

"Adam's a good man." I said.

"He is." Warren agreed, "Not everyone in the pack was happy with his decision but Adam is possibly the most dominant wolf in America after the Marrok's family so no one was prepared to challenge his decision, and after the first couple of fights no one was prepared to challenge me either. Unfortunately Paul wasn't a part of the pack at the time, so now I have to kick his ass so he gets the message."

"You're not at all sorry about it are you?"

"Not really." He admitted, "He's been making snide comments for years and he's only got worse over the last few months, I was getting close to calling him out myself but it tends to be frowned on to challenge wolves who are a lower rank than you, after all beat up someone weaker than you is not exactly a good way to prove you're stronger, though it might have shut him up."

"What did he say?" I asked as I rose and started gathering the plates we'd used for dinner.

Warren picked up the glasses and followed me into the kitchen, "Oh you know, the usual insults people in general like to hurl at gay men and whispering that I'm only third because I'm Adam's friend, that I'm not strong enough to hold it."

"And it's been worse recently?" I asked as I took the glasses from him to add to them dishwasher and then nudged him towards the coffee maker, Warren must have worked in a coffee shop at some point because his coffee is good.

"Yes." Warren admitted, "Since you left he'd drop snide comments about it whenever Adam wasn't around, like a school yard bully calling you names when the teacher isn't looking."

"I remember that." I said, "And it's actually worse in high school, the bullies are like circling vultures the moment they sense anything different about you."

"I wouldn't know, I never went to high school." Sometimes it's easy to forget that Warren was born in another century than he'll say things like that and I'm suddenly reminded that he's more than a hundred years older than I am. "But that does sound like Paul, I knows Adam won't throw me out and he's not certain he can beat me physically so he's tried to make me want to leave, but he doesn't understand that I was alone for so long that it will take an awful lot more than him and his cronies to force me out."

"If he's not certain that he can take you, why is he challenging you now?" I asked as I cut the brownies that had been cooling while we ate into squares.

"Because he tried to attack me while I was injured and Adam stopped him but gave him permission to challenge me later." Warren explained as he poured the coffee, "Every wolf in the house heard that and if he now chooses not to challenge me then he'll loose standing with other members of the pack who may in turn challenge him."

"Because he'll seem weak if he tries to attack while you're injured but not in a sanctioned fight when you're well."

"Exactly." Warren seemed pleased that I'd understood, he took the coffees and I took a plate with some of the brownies on into the lounge and we settled on the sofa, I turned the TV and flicked the station to CNN to see what had been happening in the world. Turned out the answer was nothing much, the most interesting that was that a series of meeting between the werewolves and the government had been cancelled due to a family emergency for one of the key wolves.

Warren and I looked at one another, "Adam." We both said at exactly the same time. Happily the tone of the news article was positive, painting Adam as a loving father who put his family first though Jesse's name was not mentioned, nor was the exact nature of the emergency. The article finished by informing viewers that the meeting had been rescheduled for two months time, which I thought should easily give Adam time to sort out the custody arrangements, provided his ex didn't cause too much trouble. That was if they could even track her down, Italy is a big country.

The article had not been finished for long when the subject knocked on the door and if I had known he'd bring Jesse with him I might have warned him about the statues in the front hall. As it was I sent Warren to get the door and a moment later I heard a certain young lady's voice loudly exclaim: "Oh my god!"

Deciding that I might want to go and rescue Warren from the possible wrath of his Alpha I followed him into the hallway. "For the record." I said leaning against the door frame, "Those are not mine, they came with the house, I just put the clothes on."

Adam looked the statues up and down again, focusing on the top hat that was all the male one wore, "I suppose I should be grateful."

"If I'd known you were bringing Jesse I would have warned you." Warren said.

"The warning might have been nice." Adam commented looking at Jesse who had her mouth covered with both hands trying to silence her giggles. "But no harm done, now how are you Warren?"

"Much better." Warren assured him, "Samuel said I'll be fighting fit in no time."

Jesse managed to stop giggling long enough to throw her arms around Warren, "I was so scared when you were hurt."

Warren hugged her back, "I'm fine Jesse."

"Samuel said you'd be fighting fit?" Adam said.

"Jesse I think Kyle has some brownies in the kitchen." Warren said, clearly wanting the girl out of ear shot when he told Adam the details of what Samuel had sad about his injuries.

"Kyle." Jesse said, "That is Warren's really unsubtle way of getting me out of the room, he must have been taking lessons from dad."

I laughed, "Come on, I have got brownies and you really don't want to hear this." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the kitchen.

"Those statues really came with the house?" Jesse asked.

"Of course, they were naked at the time." I told her, "I put the clothes on." I handed her a brownie.

She took a bite, "Umm, this is good, better than Mercy's."

"My grandmother's secret recipe." I told her with a grin.

"This is really good." She said taking another bite. "So the statues."

"They're called Dick and Jane." I put in helpfully.

"_Dick_ and Jane?" She asked incredulous.

"What?" I asked innocently, "'Fun With Dick and Jane' was one of my favourite films at collage." She raised her eyebrow at me, "Honestly, it's a comedy about to couple who resort to robbery after the husband is sacked."

"So are Dick and Jane, err, anatomically accurate?" I nearly laughed at Jesse's attempt to sound grown up.

"As far as I know, from academic knowledge and having an older sister, Jane is." I told her, "As for Dick, well he's mostly accurate but I think one part of his anatomy might have been overly optimistic, because that part is in no way proportional to the rest."

"Oh God!" Jesse said as she started laughing again and I joined in. "I can't wait to tell my friends about this, but I have to ask, a top hat?"

"Well what else was I supposed to put on there?" I asked, "It's not like a pair of pants would help."

That set Jesse off again, "That would probably make it look even more perverted."

"That's what I thought. Come on." I said wrapping my arm around her shoulders again, "The boys have had long enough to discuss what ever they need to." Warren and Adam had finished talking about what they needed to and had moved on to other topics when we joined them. Adam and Jesse stayed for an hour and when they left I got a hug from Jesse, though I think that might have been helped by the brownies I gave her to take, from the look on her face I thought Adam might be lucky to get one.

"So what did Adam have to say?" I asked after they'd gone.

"He wanted to know what Samuel had said and when I thought I'd be ready to accept Paul's challenge. We all want this sorted out before the next moon, it's creating friction in the pack that we really don't need, especially with the problems Darryl and I are having."

"With you been more dominant than him?" Warren nodded, "What are you going to do about that?"

"Nothing, I'm going to stay as third and Darryl will stay as second, anything else will just cause far to much trouble in the pack, they'll never accept me as second. I can act good enough that unless I loose control no one will know and if I do loose it at least the others will know to call Mercy or Adam rather than Darryl."

"So everything stays how it is?" I checked, Warren nodded, "What about Paul?"

"Adam says he wants to go ahead with the challenge, since it needs to be in front of witnesses he'll call the pack together for it. I told him to go and set it up for five days time, that's how long Samuel said I'd need."

"And what did Adam have to say about your leg?"

"He said that it just proves demons are sadistic bastards and he hopes he guy who made Littleton gets torched."

"He's not the only one." I said stroking his face, "I would kill him myself for what he did to you."

"I'm not the only one he hurt." Warren told me as he wrapped his arm round my waist and pulled me back to the lounge, "Mercy told Adam that the Fae put the death toll at maybe forty and Ben is refusing to change after what Littleton did to him. Do you remember I mentioned another vampire, Daniel?" I nodded, "He and Ben became pretty good friends, Littleton forced Ben to eat Daniel, alive."

I shuddered in disgust, I knew Littleton had been one sick bastard, if Warren's injuries hadn't originally convinced me of that then Samuel's added details the previous night would have, but this latest revelation made me sick and I found myself pitying Ben who wasn't usually the most likeable person in the pack, according to both Mercy and Warren.

"Do you think it was having the demon that made him like that or as he always warped on the inside?" I asked.

"Stefan said that the possession is voluntary, that Littleton must have wanted it even before he became a vampire. I think he was always twisted and becoming a sorcerer and then a vampire just allowed him to show it."

I leaned my head against his shoulder, "Why are people so afraid of the werewolves and the Fae when the human race can produces things that are just as bad?"

"I have no idea." Warren said brushing his fingers through my hair, "Let's watch a film before we go to bed." He suggested.

"Alright." I agreed, "But nothing with vampires, sorcerers or demons in, not tonight."

"I agree. You go get whatever brownies Jesse left and I'll pick a film." I was in the kitchen refilling the brownies plate and grabbing a couple of cans of soda when Warren shouted from the lounge, "How does 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' sound?" I laughed and shouted back that it sounded great, trust Warren to manage to find exactly what I needed, a comedy spoof from before that became an over used category.

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AN: In mid-March I will be taking part in a program called Platform2, it is a goverment sponsered voluntary program which had the volunteers working in a developing country (don't know which one yet) for ten weeks. So I am very sorry to say that there will be no updates between mid-March and the start of June. However I will do my best to make sure that I at least finish Blood Bound by then (side note; I am very annoyed that I'll be away for the UK release of Silver Borne so I won't be able to read it until I get back)


	14. Blood Bound Part 11

The night of the challenge Mercy invited me to wait at her house, for which I was grateful though I think she might have regretted it as I proceeded to wear a hole in the carpet with pacing.

"Kyle will you stop it." She finally snapped in exasperation, Mercy was sitting on her couch trying to flip through the channels on the TV but my pacing was getting in her way. Over the last week she'd healed well, she told me that her shoulder still ached a little and she was still limping but everything was healing properly. "Warren will be fine."

"I just don't like the idea of him been hurt." I told her, finally stopping my pacing to look at her.

"Well you'd be a pretty poor boyfriend if you did." She reminded me, "This is just as much a part of been a werewolf as changing forms is, dominance battles happen and it helps strengthen the pack." She smiled, "Don't worry, once Warren wins it will ensure no one else gets any ideas about challenging him."

"But he's still injured." I complained, that was the crooks of the matter, not that he as fighting but that he was doing it before he'd completely recovered from the demon-vampire.

"So when he wins it'll send a message to the rest of the pack." Mercy reminded me, "If he can beat Paul while injured it will ensure that no one is tempted to challenge him anytime soon." I sighed and resumed my pacing, all of Mercy's arguments were exactly the same ones that Warren had been using for the last week and the fact that they made sense on an intellectual level didn't mean that my heart liked them. Then again as Mercy had said, if I did like the idea of Warren been hurt that would really make me a piss-poor boyfriend.

"Kyle, sit down."

I paused again and looked at her, "You know that only works on the wolves right?" But I did sit down.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as Mercy continued to flip through the channels before she finally said, "My foster-mom never liked it when her mate fought either."

"Doesn't really matter if us poor humans like it or not does it?" I said with a resigned sigh, "The wolves will still fight."

"They will." Mercy agreed, "And Warren's a better fighter than my foster-dad, he'll be fine."

"With a few more bruises and cuts and potentially broken bones." I pointed out.

"Kyle you need to get over this." Mercy said seriously, "If you can't accept this part of his life you could loose him."

"I know Mercy and I'm trying, but it's not easy." I leaned my head against the back of the sofa and closed my eyes. "And it's not as if there a how-to manual or anyone I can talk to, you and Jesse were both brought up with it."

Mercy looked thoughtful, "Some of the pack are married to human women, I could ask Adam if one of them would mind meeting with you, it might help." I gave a resigned sigh and, without opening my eyes, nodded. "Though perhaps Paul's wife might not be a good idea." Mercy said with mock thoughtfulness.

That made me laugh and I opened my eyes to looks at her, "Thank you, Mercy, again, and perhaps you could not tell Warren about this just yet? I will tell him, but not right now, I don't want to make him worry that I'm going to leave."

"Alright." Mercy agreed. "Now will you stop pacing?"

I did stop pacing but I didn't stop fighting, I have a feeling it was driving Mercy crazy but she didn't say anything else, merely continued flipping through the channels before finally stopping on the local news. The leading story was that the cooler temperatures seemed to have heralded the end of the spate of violence that had swept through the Tri-Cities, I tried to imagine that the public reaction to finding out the truth would be, even leaving out the vampire part I doubted that some of the public would like the idea that the restoration of the peace was due to the local werewolf pack and whatever Mercy was.

When my cell finally rang I almost jumped out of my skin even though I had been waiting for the call. My phone was to my ear in a flash, I didn't even bother checking the screen since I knew from the ringtone that it was Warren.

"Hello."

"Kyle." Warren sounded tired and there was a hint of pain in his voice but under the circumstances I was just happy that he was the one calling. He also sounded very pleased with himself so I assumed he'd won.

"Warren." I knew that my relief was plain in my voice and from the shouts in the background of Warren's call I knew that which every wolves were around could hear my relief as well.

"Shut up!" Warren shouted at them, I couldn't hear exactly what they had said but I guessed it probably wasn't particularly mature. "Anyway, I'm good to go if you want to pick me up?"

"Oh I don't know, it'll interrupt the fun Mercy and I were having but I think I can fit you in." There was an explosion of laughter in the back ground and Warren again shouted at them to be quiet. "I'll be right round."

Mercy was grinning at me as I hung up, "Told you he'd win."

"I didn't doubt it, really I didn't, I just didn't want him hurt." I told her as I stood and tried to remember where where I'd left my jacket.

Mercy found it tossed over the back of a chair and handed it to me, "Here you are and Kyle? Try and convince Warren to Change tonight, it'll help him heal faster but he might be," She paused trying to find the right word, "Hesitant about been a wolf around you."

I had a feeling the word she had trying to avoid was 'shy', "He doesn't need to be." I assured her then I leant down to kiss her cheek, "Good night Mercy, I'm sorry if there's a hole in your carpet."

She laughed, "Night Kyle, if I need to replace it I'll send you the bill."

From the looks of the outside of her trailer I had a feeling that a worn patch in her carpet was the least of her concerns, apparently the damage had be caused by Littleton. It looked about as good as Warren did just after he was found, unfortunately her trailer wouldn't heal like he had. I shook my head as I got in the car, it would cost her a fortune and I knew that she wouldn't easily be able to afford it. I also know that if I offered to help her pay for it, despite the fact that I earned more than I actually knew what to do with, she was refuse. She hated charity. I admired her for been self sufficient but I did not like the idea of my best friend eating mac and cheese or ramen noodles for a month. Still if she wouldn't accept money to help repair her trailer I'd just invite her over to dinner twice a week, or drop by her garage and buy her lunch.

It would be the least I could do after what she'd done for Warren and I.

It took longer to reach Adam's house by car than it did on foot since his property shared a back fence with Mercy's, meaning I had to drive to the end of the street and then double back on myself, it certainly explained the well worn track from Mercy's to Adam's and the gap in the fence that I doubted would ever be repaired.

The door was opened by Honey before I'd even reached it, "Hey Kyle."

"Hello Honey," I said as I walked passed her and into the house, "Where's my other half?"

"He's talking to Adam, he'll just be a minute." Honey assured me.

"I'm here now." Warren said as he walked out of the kitchen. As he walked I gave him a once over; he was limping worse then he had been an hour earlier and had a cut above his left eye that extended back into his hair line along with a painful looking bruise. A closer look revealed that he had two of his fingers strapped and I noticed he used his left hand to try and restore some semblance of order to his hair so I suspect his right arm must be injured to.

The main thing I noticed was that he was grinning and his eyes sparkled, clearly he'd enjoyed handing Paul's ass to him. "Hey love." I greeted him, pushing his hand away and straightening his hair myself, "How is it that you can have your hair this short and still look like you haven't seen a comb in months." I chided him then I leaned in and kissed him.

I hadn't noticed the other wolves around the house, my attention was taken solely by Warren, but when I kissed him there was a symphony of shouts from around us:

"You're making me sick!" "Stop it!" "Go home if you want to do that!" "God get a room!" There were also a few cheers and a couple wolf whistles, pun intended.

"Someone has a good idea." I said when I pulled away, "Let's go home." Knowing that it would probably piss off some of the wolves I wrapped my arm around Warren's waist and steered him towards the front door.

"See you for the full moon." Warren shouted over his shoulder, who to I'm not sure but I'm assuming it's one of his friends.

We were silent as we got in the car and I pulled away from the kerb, I let the silence continue until we reached the end of Adam's street before I finally spoke since he was clearly not going to go first. "So?"

"So what?" Warren said with a grin, he was just doing it to annoy me the cheeky git.

"So how far did you kick Paul's ass?" I asked

"Just to Seattle and back." He said with a grin.

"Shame." I told him, he looked shocked and a little offended. I grinned as explained, "If you'd left his ass in Seattle after you kicked it there then you wouldn't have to deal with him, but instead you kicked it back here."

Warren laughed and then winced slightly, I said nothing but I suspected a cracked rib or two, again. "I couldn't do that to the Emerald City pack, I rather like their second Tom Franklin."

"Should I be jealous?" I asked, only half joking, but Warren's laugh assured me I had nothing to worry about.

"Not with his mate," He grinned, "She's a witch and very strong for a white witch, if I ever made a pass at Tom, she'd probably ensure that I never had sex again."

I grinned, "Now that would be a shame." I pretended to leer at him before turning my eyes back to the road, fortunately at nine at night there weren't many people on the road. I decided not to question that this Tom's mate was a witch, I was almost certain that it was in the realm of things I was didn't need or want to know. "So you kicked his ass bad enough that he's not going home tonight, how bad did he get you?"

He gestured to his head, "Samuel assures me this isn't a concussion. He also broke one of my fingers, cracked my arm, re-cracked my ribs."

"They'd only just healed." I complained.

"Yeah, he got a good kick in on my ankle, probably cracked something." Warren shook his head, "And a good selection of bruises."

"What am I going to do with you?" I said as I shook my head then I heard his stomach rumble, "Apart from take you home and feed you."

"Love you too Kyle." Warren grinned, I just shook my head and focused on driving. With the light traffic it didn't take that long to get home, Warren got out of the car on his own but I banished him to the couch while I made dinner. Given how late it was I couldn't be bothered it make anything complicated, so burgers and chips it was. With a double helping for Warren of course.

After we'd finished I noticed Warren was still wincing occasionally, I sighed, "You'll heal faster if you change." I reminded him. Warren looked uncomfortable at the suggestion and I knew Mercy was right, he was shy about been a wolf around me. "You're uncomfortable about been a wolf around me?"

Warren looked away, "I don't," He paused for a moment and then started again, "I don't want it to change how you see me, I don't want to seem less than human."

I cupped his cheek and turned him to face me, "You are always Warren to me, no matter what form you're in." I ran my fingers through his hair, "Besides I've seen you as a wolf."

"And I hurt you." Warren reminded me, reaching down to touch my stomach where his wolf's claws had cut me.

"Not your fault," I reminded him in turn. "Now go change." I told him, "And we'll watch a film, how about Dog Soldiers?"

Warren actually growled, "Nothing with werewolves or vampires."

"True Lies? Explosions, guns and Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"That's better." Warren agreed.

I smiled, "Now go change." I gave him a gentle shove towards the dinning room door, "I promise I won't peek." I assured him with a grin as I collected the plates, as I did so I heard him climb the stairs and I guessed that he was planning on changing in our bedroom. My guess was confirmed when I heard the door closed, but he didn't close the door all way way, either it was a sign he trusted me not to spy on him or simply the practical answer to the question of how to open a door without opposable thumbs.

I took our plates and cutlery into the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher, then I faced the challenge of finding the True Lies DVD amongst my rather large collection. My sister would sigh every time she saw it and wonder how I found anything in it, the truth was that there was a system to it. Actually that was the problem, over time I had used a couple of systems over the years and the result was the question of whether the DVD I wanted was filed under action or spy movies.

It turned out the answer was action, naturally the second place I looked, and since Warren still hadn't come back down I took the chance put the disc into the built in DVD player on the side of the TV and then went to microwave some popcorn for myself, as I was emptying the popcorn into a bowl I heard the soft thud of paws on the stairs.

I met Warren at the foot of the stair, I noticed he was favouring both hind and a forelimb, otherwise he was looking remarkably good, I wasn't sure if that was because the changed had helped him heal or because his fur hid the evidence. Another thing I noticed was just how big Warren was as a wolf. The last time I had seen him I had been distracted from his size by his injuries but now I could fully appreciate just how big he was and wonder how the hell no one had ever noticed entire packs of such creatures running around. I would love to hear the scientists attempt to explain for how an average sized man could transform into a wolf that I estimated weighted about two hundred and eighty pounds. That was magic pure and simple.

"You know you really do make a very hansom wolf." I commented, he rubbed against my leg so I assumed he was pleased with the comment, "So much more hansom when you aren't dripping blood all over the place." He snorted and head butted my leg before walking into the lounge.

"I always wanted a dog," I called after him, Warren mock growled at me and then climbed up on the couch, stretching out and taking up the entire thing. I laughed and followed him in, "Budge up." I told him, he moved slightly, giving me enough space to sit down but the moment I did he put his head on my lap. "And how am I supposed to start the film?" I asked.

He lifted on of his paws onto my lap as well and used it to poke at the side of couch, "And those claws would be the reason we aren't watching this in the TV room upstairs, even if it does have surround sound, they'd kill the leather." Warren snorted as I reached down the side of the couch cushion and pulled out the remote, fifty percent of the time that was where it ended up, it was the other fifty percent of the time that was the problem.

I settled my bowl of popcorn on the arm of the couch and pressed play.

"You know." I said was I climbed the stairs after the movie had finished, "I thought that one advantage of you been a wolf would be that you couldn't steal my popcorn." I glared down at Warren who gave me a wolfy grin. Part way through the film, just as Schwarzenegger went Rambo on the terrorists, Warren had managed to stick his nose in my popcorn bowl and finished what was let. "Cheeky bastard."

I pushed open our bedroom door, "Good thing it's a king huh?" I said laughing as Warren jumped on the bed, "If you shed hair on that," I warned him, "You're changing the bedding tomorrow." He nodded, a strange thing to see a wolf do, and then settled himself comfortably on what was usually his side of the bed on top of the covers, I can only imagine that he'd be far to hot under the duvet, even the light summer one, because of his fur.

I stripped and tossed my dirty clothes in the hamper, noticing Warren's were already in there meaning that, for once, he'd actually remembered where to put his dirty clothes. Though I suspected it was more that he couldn't be bothered to put them in the hamper rather than that he forgot because they were usually balled up after having been thrown in the generally right direction.

Forgoing pyjamas, as I usually did unless there was someone besides Warren staying with me, I turned back towards the bed and noticed Warren watching me, again with a wolfy grin. As I slipped under the duvet I gave his shoulder a shove. "Less of that." I told him with a grin, "Good night Warren."

Warren licked my cheek, which I assumed was his way of saying good night and I smiled once again before laying my head on the pillow and closing my eyes, even as I fell asleep I was conscious of Warren. It was strange to know that it was a wolf I was sharing my bed with rather than a human but it was still Warren and that made it easy for me to fall asleep.

* * *

AN: As I said, updates will be becoming mroe frequent until I go to Peru on the 18th March, by the hopefully we'll be at the end of Blood Bound but I should warn that after that it will likly be four months (or more) before I start with Iron Kissed. I may also be posting a Torchwood/Sanctuary crossover fic if my lovely friend keeps poking me like she has been but that won't affect the posting of this one


	15. Blood Bound Part 12

AN: I may have had a little too much fun with this one *blushes*. Anduria Trianys helped me with the comments during the anime movie, thanks!

* * *

Another week and the only evidence that Warren had ever been hurt in the first place was his limp, which was worse than Mercy's, and the fact that he was still under weight, something I was working to correct but it was easier said than done given the high metabolism of the wolves in general.

Warren had agreed to continue working for me for the moment, helping to run surveillance and any bodyguard duties that were needed. He had also agreed to cover cases for my law partners as needed. He had been far less happy when I told him that he wasn't doing any work for at least a few weeks. I wanted to give his leg as much of a chance to heal as I could, I knew it would take time to regrow the muscles that the bastard vampire had removed but I wanted all his other injuries perfectly healed before I was allowing him to do anything. Warren complained because he hated feeling like he was freeloading off of me, something I responded to by kissing him and reminding him that if I was his mate then what was mine was also his.

Still I relented slightly and allowed him to help out in the office, filling paperwork and general office jobs. Georgi, Mark and Marie both commented on how quickly he had recovered and how pleased they were that we had worked out whatever issues had stood between us, if any of them suspected the truth about Warren's nature they never spoke of it.

As I got out of the bathroom I sigh, noticing that Warren was still lounging in bed. He dressed, in jeans and a tee-shirt since he was running errands for Adam today rather than coming into the office with me, but I somehow he'd managed to get creases in his clothes just laying there. One day I swore I would civilise my ex-cowboy boyfriend but I didn't think it would be anytime soon.

Turning to my closet I considered the selection of clothes for the day. Today I had a meeting with a client's husband and his lawyer. Said lawyer was from Seattle and probably cost a fortune that the husband wouldn't have by the time I got through with him. He also, according to Marie, had a very low opinion of me, though exactly how my office manager knew this I didn't know. That almost made it more fun, all of the local lawyers had learnt that my sexuality did not make me a pushover but this Seattle lawyer apparently thought, again according to Marie, that been gay made you a poof and a push over.

Grinning to myself I pulled out a lavender cowboy outfit. Warren noticed and burst out laughing, "Please tell me you are not going to wear that!" He said in between peals of laughter.

"What?" I said in pretend outrage, "You don't think it suits me?"

"Kyle love, you can pull off just about everything but were you trying to live up to the stereotypical gay man image today?"

"Of course." I told him as I started to dress, "I have a meeting with a client's husband and his lawyer, who has a very low opinion of gays. If I play that up then his lawyer will underestimate me and I can hang them good and high in court."

"Ah, not a local lawyer is he?" Warren said, he knew my reputation as well as I did.

"Seattle." I told him as I buttoned up my shirt. "Apparently the husband has hired him because he thinks that big city and expensive means talented, but my client had family here in the Tri-cities and she took their advice. Something I intend to see she doesn't regret." My client was a lovely woman, in her mid-forties who had put up with her husband for the sake of their children but now the youngest had started collage she wanted her freedom.

"So what do you think?" I asked, pulling the matching purple cowboy hat off the shelf and sticking on my head, "How would I do in the old Wild West?"

Warren got up off the bed and came over to me, "You'd have been run out of town as a deviant or a freak, but I'd have followed you." He kissed me and then whispered in my ear, "You look kind of hot." Then he added in a more normal volume, "But I have to ask why you have a purple cowboy outfit."

"Collage."

Warren shook his head, "Sometimes I wish I'd been to collage, it sounds like you had a very interesting time. Posing as a girl's boyfriend and dressing up, when exactly did you find time to get to class?"

"It wasn't easy." I said with a laugh, knowing he was teasing me. "Come on breakfast."

Since I would be in the office for the day and Warren was running errands he dropped me off., I suggested he take my Jag but he preferred his battered old truck, commenting that he was always scared of breaking my Jag.

When I entered the office I was greeted by a wolf-whistle from Mark, applause from Georgi and Marie and giggles from Marie's office staff. I gave them a mock bow.

"Were you and Warren playing dress up again Kyle?" Mark asked. "Because I think Warren makes a better cowboy than you do."

"I'll be sure to tell him." I refrained from pointing out that there was a very good reason Warren made a better cowboy than I did.

"You meeting with a Seattle lawyer again?" Gerogi asked grinning.

"Of course, only that or excessive amounts of alcohol would make me wear this. You'd think word would have spread by now but no, they all still underestimate me."

"That is simply because none of them want to admit to loosing to you in court, it's even more of an affront to their masculinity than loosing to a woman." Georgi laughed. Sometimes she liked to play up been a women, it made male lawyers underestimate her the same way my sexuality did. In fact Mark was the only one without such an advantage.

"I'll be in the office Marie." I told the manager, "I've just got the one meeting at eleven thirty and the client should be here ten minuets earlier." I went into my office and closed the door but I was certain that I could still hear the giggles of the secretaries through the closed door. With nothing else to do and no longer able to put it off I settled at my desk and turned my attention to the bane of civilisation. Paperwork.

My meeting went very well, the client was surprised at my choice of attire I could tell but she remained silent on the subject. The reaction of the husband's lawyer was everything I could have hoped for. He went away thoroughly convinced that I was nothing but a lightweight poof. This meant that not only would he not bother preparing properly for court, no doubt deciding that the time he saved on not preparing could be better used on the golf course, but I would also have the advantage of his shock when I appeared in court in a dark suit and sombre tie.

I spent the afternoon working on a few more cases and answering emails. One was from Maya informing me that Adam's custody case was going very well. No one had yet been able to contact his ex-wife and she was certain that the evidence she had would prove that no one would ask for a better father than Adam, regardless of what he turned into once a month.

I was glad of that, Jesse and I had spoken quite a bit while I had been at Adam's and we had bonded over been the only two humans in the house. I was please that her mother would no longer have any access rights to her. I was also glad for Adam, if he won sole custody of Jesse then he would no longer have to see his ex-wife and could finally close the door on the part of his life. And it wasn't as if Jesse lacked female role models in her life,there were three women in Adam's pack. And then there was Mercy, she might not make the big bucks but when it came to the important things in life, like loyalty and sticking your neck out for a friend there was no woman I knew would could provide a better example for a young woman than Mercy.

My afternoon was interrupted by a call from Warren. "Hey Warren." I said when Marie put him through.

"How'd your meeting go?"

"Perfect, the other lawyer thinks I'm a lightweight so he'll get a really unpleasant shock in court next month. How were your errands?"

"Long." Warren sounded tired even over the phone, "We've got some problems with Ben."

"What type?" I had never met Ben but from Mercy and Warren's descriptions I knew his type. Although from London he did not fit the stereotype of the reserved Englishman, he was loud and crude especially about women and he wasn't all that polite about Warren and I either. This seemed to annoy Mercy far more than it did Warren. Still that said I knew Ben's type, his outward exterior was a defence against some serious issues I didn't even want to speculate on.

"Guilt." Warren told me, "He's going to get himself killed if he keeps on like this and he won't change back. Adam suggested that getting him out of the house might be a good idea but he can't be left without Adam, Darryl or I."

"So we're dog-sitting tonight?" I said with a sigh, welcome to life as the mate of the pack third I thought to myself.

"Not all night, but it might do him some good. I thought we could invite Mercy over and make an evening of it? Take away and a movie? She could do with a break, she's not been herself since this all started."

"Sounds good." I told him. I knew Mercy was quite partial to anime and we had yet to inflict much on Warren. I also had the perfect movie in mind.

"So what time will you be done?

I glanced at the pile of documents on my desk, "Give me an hour and a half." I advised, "I should be able to get most of the stuff I need to do today done by then.

"That'll be perfect." Warren told me, "We'd be at Mercy's about her usual finishing time."

"I'll see you in an hour and a half then."

"You will." He promised as he hung up.

When Warren arrive he came up to the office and endured Marie's teasing about my outfit while I finished up the last of my paperwork, marking various pages as needing to be filed or mailed. As I stepped out of my office I noticed Warren was leaning against Marie's desk chatting to her and the new clerical assistant was attempting not to stare, drool, or drop the stack of files she was carrying. She's only started the previous day so she hadn't yet met him, though she had no doubt heard about him from one of Marie's other minions and clearly he was out shinning her expectations.

"The doctor said it would probably take a month or so before my ankle heals fully." Warren was saying.

"How bad was the original injury?" Marie asked.

"There's some muscle damage." He told her, "The doc says that's what's taking so long to heal."

"Shouldn't you still be in hospital or at least in a cast for something like that?"

"Maybe." Warren agreed. "But I don't like hospitals and Kyle makes a much better nurse."

"Prettier too." I said as I stepped around the corner I had been standing behind. Marie jumped slightly but Warren had known I was there, he always knew where I was even when I was certain that not even his heightened senses should give me away, such as in a crowded shopping mall.

"Defiantly." Warren agreed after I gave him a quick kiss. "Are you planning to change before we pick up Mercy?"

"Nah." I told him, "I think she could use a laugh. Night Marie."

"Good night." She said as we headed for the main door and stepped out into the small parking lot. Warren's truck was parked beside Georgi and Mark's cars and that made it look even more battered then usual. I was tempted to make a joke about it been as old as he was but I caught sight of a large lump in the back of the truck.

"Hello Ben." I said, it seemed polite. Even though we'd never met and I'd heard less than stellar things about him he was still a member of Warren's pack and that did seem to require a measure of civility on my part.

Ben made a sound that might have been a greeting but sounded more like a kicked puppy.

"He's really not alright is he." I said as I climbed in the passenger side.

Warren shook his head, "Adam's worried about him, he's hoping a change of scenery might help but he's only safe around Adam, Darryl and I." We made small talk for the rest of the trip, I told him about the lawyer I had a meeting with today and he filled me in on his day, which mostly consisted of running errands for his Alpha, all the things Adam didn't have time for since he was been forced to split his time between Washington, his business and Jesse.

When we reach Mercy's garage I climbed out and headed towards the main door. "Mercy!"

"Give me a minute Kyle." Came the answer from somewhere in the vicinity of the BMW that was currently in for repairs. I retreated to to lean against Warren's truck, enjoying the late summer sun. That was the biggest problem with been a lawyer, you spent the whole working week indoors and even if the AC took care of the excessive heat that we had been having I still missed the feel of the sun.

Maybe I could talk Warren into sunbathing with me tomorrow evening or over the weekend if the whether held, it certainly looked like it was going to, though the oppressive heat was lifting for which I was grateful. Werewolves, as it turned out, liked it cool and while I certainly didn't object to the excuse to cuddle up to Warren it did mean I experienced something of a shock every time I walked out the front door, like stepping from a fridge into an oven. Still if the heat was starting to let up I might be able to talk Warren into some late summer sunbathing, especially if I reminded him how few clothes that generally involved, or no clothes at all.

While I was contemplating that Mercy had evidently finished whatever she was working on and was locking up the garage for the night, then she turned, saw me and almost burst out laughing, "Who ticked you off?"

"I was meeting a client's husband and his high-powered Seattle lawyer." I explained with a grin. "The longer they think I'm a lightweight poof, the higher I'll hang them in court."

She laughed and kissed my cheek. "It's good to see you."

I thought it was probably time to explain why we were there, "We're going to catch a show at my place, we thought you might like to join in."

"Only if you change clothes." I couldn't blame her for that, Warren had threatened that he wasn't touching me this evening unless I changed, I doubted he'd last all that long but I wasn't going to test it.

Ben chose that moment to stick his head over the side of the truck. He did not look good, even though my experience with wolves is severely limited, namely Warren, my family had always kept dogs and at that moment Ben looked like a combination of a depressed person and a dog who knows he's done something very wrong and is waiting to be punished.

He let Mercy stroke the side of his face before he curled back up on the bed of the truck, his head on his front paws. When we got in the cab Mercy looked enquiringly at Warren as he started the truck, "Adam thought it would do Ben some good to get out. We thought it would do you some good, too."

"He's still not shifting." I wasn't sure if that was a statement or a question but Warren took it as the latter.

"No, and he wouldn't hunt with us at full moon." I could hear the concern in Warren's voice, I knew he wasn't particularly close to Ben but he was pack and that meant he was Warren's family.

Mercy glanced out the back window, "Is he eating?"

"Enough." Warren said, I didn't find that particularly reassuring but I knew that Ben had to be safe for Warren to allow him around me, he could be so over protective when he wanted to.

We rode in silence for several minutes until Mercy said, "So, what are we watching?"

"I thought we might educate Warren a little since he never went to collage." I said with a grin, "Anime."

Mercy laughed, "Nice one, any particular anime?"

"I thought something in keeping with the company, Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha?" Mercy thought for a moment, "Isn't that about a dog demon?"

"Close enough, besides it has plenty of opportunity for big sword jokes."

Warren laughed when I said that. "I thought Bad Movie Night was Friday."

"Warren." I sighed and shook my head, "Warren, Warren. At no point should Inuyasha ever be considered for Bad Movie Night, it just has plenty of opportunities for innuendo."

"Kyle, with you everything is an opportunity for innuendo." Warren said with a laugh.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I replied.

Mercy laughed, "You two sound like an old married couple."

"We do not." I insisted, then caught sight of the hurt look that flashed briefly across Warren's face, too fast for anyone else to notice. Was he still feeling insecure about my sticking around? Sensing that maybe he was I added, "I am not old enough to be call an old anything."

That seemed to set Warren at ease and he flashed a grin at me, "You may not be but I am."

"Thanks for reminding me." It was stranger for me to be dating someone old enough to my grandparents grandfather that it was for me to be dating someone who occasionally turned into a wolf. "I guess that makes you a cradle snatcher and me a toy boy."

"My toy boy." Warren said with a grin. "So what were we thinking about for dinner?" A short argument ensued as we tried to decided, the argument was ultimately resolved by a quick round of rock-paper-scissors and dinner ended up been Mexican.

We decided to watch the movie in my TV room, once it had been another bedroom but I figured that I really didn't need five bedrooms, so the smallest became a junk room and another became the TV room. Though I might have to change it around a bit when my niece and nephew got a little bit older and started complaining about sharing a room when they and their parents came to stay.

Warren phoned our order in while I changed and Mercy set up the movie, though in hind sight we probably should have finished eating before we put the film on, the laughs started almost as soon as the film did when Warren, who had never seen Inuyasha before, asked: "So who's she?"

Mercy and I burst out laughing immediately, in between giggles she managed to get out, "That's Inuyasha's older brother!"

"Hey Warren, is he related to you?" I asked as Inuyasha's father transformed into a giant dog. Warren poked me in the side.

That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening. Warren, Mercy and I had a great time making rude jokes about the film, the only one not having fun was Ben He just sat on the floor watching us but without much comprehension or care in his eyes.

"These guys have got to be compensating for something with these swords." Mercy said at one point.

"And the way they hold them isn't helping either." Warren put in, "I'm I the only one who's noticed that he's taking orders from his sword?"

"Isn't that what all men do?" Mercy asked innocently. Warren and I each threw a pillow at her.

"Do you think the kinkiness gets added in translation?" I asked Mercy.

"Maybe." She answered still watching the film, "But I would love a set of those beads for Adam and another set for Samuel."

"How about just one for all of us wolves?" Warren suggested

I pretended to be think for a moment, "Good idea Warren, you could do with a collar and leash." He grabbed a pillow and tried to beat me around the head with it but I pulled it from his hands and kissed him instead.

I don't think we managed to go more than a few minutes at a time without a smart ass comment or dirty joke from one of us. "Too easy." I said when Mercy looked at me strangely for not making a comment over Tekemaru's transformation. And it was, a guy with a horn sticking out of his forehead, the jokes practically wrote themselves.

Even though I had picked the movie knowing full well just how good it was for dirty jokes, after all it was what we really needed after everything that had happened over the last few weeks. But I'd either forgotten exactly how good it was for dirty jokes, or I'd forgotten just how dirty minded Warren, Mercy and I were when we got together.

"'Come for me Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.' That is really asking for it." Warren said laughing, "I find it hard to believe the writers didn't realise."

"I think they may have done." I told him

"I really hope they did." Mercy was also laughing. "Ooh the big battle scene."

"I like the fact that they all attack one at a time and then stop to let him catch his breathe." Warren said shaking his head.

"Wouldn't be much of a movie if they didn't," I said, "The bad guy's overwhelming numbers would win every time."

"Well I'll do a much better job when I try to take over the world." Mercy said smugly.

"Should I warn Bran now, or wait until you've already started?" Warren laughed while on screen that battle continued.

"You can wait, I need to train my Legion of Doom troops first."

"Did you read the Evil Overlord rules too?" I asked.

Mercy nodded, "While I was in collage." I laughed, I'd first found the online list made up of all the over used plot devices found the movies while I was in collage. It made a very pleasant change from law texts.

"I need to go to collage." Warren said shaking his head at the pair of us as we giggled.

A snipped of dialogue caught my attention as the little girl on screen said 'Lord Sesshoumaru hasn't come out yet.' I cracked out laughing again, "Oh I think he has, between the fur boa and the fact I'm pretty sure he's wearing pink I think the whole planet realises that he's come out."

I got a pillow from Mercy for that one and I was starting to reconsider the intelligence of having so many pillows and cushions scattered around the TV room. They all seemed to end up been throw at me.

"These two are hopeless." Warren said referring to the two half-brothers. "They remind me of my older cousins, I always swore those two would argue until the day they died."

Warren sounded so said as he said it but it still took me a second to realise why. He'd lost his family when he was changed, he would never know if his cousins made up or not. I put my arm around him and pulled him against my side, when he leant his head against my shoulder I took the opportunity to kiss the top of his head.

"He's delusional." I commented in reference to the fact that Sesshoumaru was still insisting that he had no one to protect, as he had been for most a the film.

"Yeah." Warren agreed, "But his sword looks like a lightsaber."

"There's another film with plenty of opportunity for innuendo." Mercy said with a laugh.

"Have you ever read that online list with the word 'pants' strategically added to various Star Wars lines?" I asked, Mercy and Warren both shook their heads. "I'll print it off for you, it's good for a laugh."

The film was reaching it's end, the battle was done and the ghost of the boys father appeared says that he was proud of them and that he had nothing more to teach them. Mercy snorted at that, "Well I can think of a few things."

"Like how not to kill each other." Warren suggested.

"And how to not chop off limbs." Mercy continued. "That was a good movie." She continued, stretching as the end credits started to play, "And you were right it was just what I needed."

"I'll take you home." Warren stood and then staggered slightly, I jumped to my feet to catch him before he fell.

"Steady." I said supporting him.

He gave me a rueful grin, "Sorry my ankle seized up. It happens sometimes." He explained to Mercy, "Especially when I haven't moved it much, Samuel says there's still a lot of damage to the muscles and that's the reason why it happens." I helped support him as he wiggled his ankle to loosen the joint a bit before trying to put weight on it again. "That's better."

"Go on then." I said giving him a slap on the rear, "I'll get cleaned up in here." I looked around at the discarded take out containers and pillows which had somehow ended up scattered across most of the room. Not what I think the manufacturers had in mind when they called them 'scatter pillows'.

"Take care of yourself Kyle." Mercy said giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Come on Ben." Warren had to call twice more before the large red wolf responded by rising to his feet and following Warren out the door. I wouldn't pretend to be an expert on werewolf body language but my family always kept dogs and everything about Ben's body language, from his lowered head to the tail tucked between his legs, screamed submissive and guilty, it reminded me of when my mother's German Shepard ate the wooden buttons off her coat. He had spent the entire evening laid near the wall with his eyes on the screen but I was convinced that he wouldn't remember when we had been watching, he seemed to be looking through the screen rather than at it. I agreed with the concern that Warren and Adam both had. Normally I would have suggested he take to a therapist but I doubted the werewolves had one and he couldn't talk to a human shrink.

For the moment it seemed Bed would have to battle his own demons, I only hoped he would succeed because I didn't want see what loosing a pack mate would do to Warren.


	16. Blood Bound Part 13

AN: Next chapter, enjoy.

* * *

I had the room almost back to normal when I heard the phone ring down stairs. I sprinted down, cursing myself for not giving into temptation and getting an extension put in upstairs. But generally when I was upstairs I was doing something that I didn't want to be interrupted. People I cared about knew to use my cell if it was life threatening and I wasn't answering the house line. I was only hurrying because I was worried that something had happened to Warren while he was dropping Mercy and Ben off. Probably stupid but after the last two weeks I couldn't help it.

Fortunately I was able to get to the phone just before the answer machine kicked in. "Hello?"

"Hello Kyle, you sound out of breath, am I interrupting something?" My sister could still be as annoying as she was when we were younger, in fact I think she's getting worse with age.

"No Ally, I was upstairs."

She laughed, "I assumed that, I was wondering what you were doing up there."

"Very funny." I told her, she was as bad as I was when it came to suggestive comments, "I was cleaning up the TV room, we had a couple of friends over this evening." Did Ben class as a friend? "We ate take out, watched a film and had a few minor pillow fights."

"You're never going to grow up are you Kyle?" She asked with great affection.

"It's over rated." I answered, "So what do I owe the honour of the call?"

"The kids." She told me, "They want to see their Uncle Kyle. You weren't at the family barbecue and you haven't been to visit in months, they miss you."

"I haven't got time to visit at the moment." I told her feeling bad about it, I usually tried to visit every couple of months but so far it had been five since I'd last seen them and unfortunately it didn't look like that was about to change anytime soon. "I just had to take time off with Warren been injured, I am still catching up on the missed worked."

"We can come visit you." She suggested

"Ally are you trying to wrangle an invite?" I asked, "Or wanting to inspect my boyfriend?"

She laughed, "A bit, but I am your sister and the kids do really want to see you." Right on cue I heard a small voice one the other end of the line.

"Mummy who is it?"

"Your Uncle Kyle." Ally said.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Not right now, Brendan I was just asking if we could visit him for a few days."

"Please Uncle Kyle! Please, Please." Brendon continued on like that in the background even as I started laughing.

"I guess Brendon does want to see me."

"Hannah was as bad most of the day but she's already in bed." Ally assured me

"Alright." I relented, "If you guys want to come for the weekend that will be fine, you can drive down on the Friday and head back early Monday."

"Brendon your Uncle Kyle said yes, now get to bed or I'll leave you at home." That seemed to put the fear of God into the little boy because after a quick shout that I think was a good night to me I heard the sound of his feet on the stairs. "How that boy manages to sound like a heard of elephants on his own I have no idea."

"Is Richard not home yet?" I asked.

"No he had a late business meeting and then they were going out for a few drinks." Richard was Alison's husband and a manager in one of the large companies in Seattle."

"You're not going to be needing my services are you?" Ally laughed, it was another of our running jokes but I doubted Richard would be cheating on her, he was devoted to his wife and doted on their children . But she knew that if she ever needed me, in whatever capacity, I would be there. "So when do you want to visit? I assume Rich will be coming with you."

"He will, how about a week Friday?"

I wandered into the kitchen and checked the calendar, Warren had marked the days of the full moon with a circle. One day I would probably be able to keep track of it without that aid but until then Warren's notes would help and were subtle enough that no one visiting would realise what it meant. With that said I was making sure that next years calendar already had the moon cycle already marked on.

"That sounds alright." The full moon wouldn't be until the end of the week afterwards. "But let me talk to Warren first, he's taking our friend Mercy home right now."

"Alright." Ally said, "Oh and we'll have to bring the puppy with us, you don't mind do you? Warren isn't allergic or anything?"

"No." I said somehow repressing my laughter at the idea of Warren been allergic to dogs. "No he doesn't mind dogs." Warren had told me that it was only really cats that disliked werewolves, apparently Mercy's cat Meada was the exception, she actually seemed to seek out werewolf company. Adam had returned her to Mercy several times with threats to eat her next time she wandered onto his property, but Warren admitted that she was only returned after having spent the afternoon been fed and petted, and not by just Jesse either.

"I don't think he'll mind." I continued, "He's been asking to meet my family."

"Mom and dad are probably not a good idea." I wasn't going to argue with her there, "They're both rather annoyed that you missed the family barbecue, dad said it was a disgrace that you didn't come and mom said you were deliberately embarrassing her."

"Well I find been disinherited because I like men disgraceful and I'm embarrassed every time mom tries to throw yet another woman at me." I snapped back then sighed, "I'm sorry Ally, I hate putting you in the middle of this."

"It's not your fault Kyle, at least you're sorry for it, the only thing I can say in their favour is that at least mom and dad don't say anything in front of the children." Ally told me. "I'm your big sister and that means I have to stick up for you when people pick on you, even when those people are our parents."

"I'm not a child anymore Ally." I said with a smile.

"You'll always be my little brother, Kylie."

"You're going in the pool." I warned her. How many times had I told her not to call me by that childhood nickname? Now she used it to annoy me or distract me. Or both as was the case today.

"You'll have to catch me first." She teased.

"Oh I will." I teased back, "I have help now."

"I need to go." I could hear her smiling. "I promised Brendon a bedtime story, Hannah's already in bed, she's not feeling well."

"Give her a kiss for me and a hug to Brendon."

"I will, good night Kyle and call me about that Warren says."

"I will do." I promised as I hung up, then I grinned; my sister was coming to visit. Warren had been hinting and out right stating that he wanted to be introduced to my family, I just hope he knew what he was letting himself in for. My sister worked as a bank manager and she took no prisoners, she was also looking forward to the chance to intimidate a lover of mine, I had certainly scared off a few of hers over the years before she was married.

I had a chance to fetch the take out containers from up stairs and dump them in the trash before Warren returned. "Everything alright?" I asked.

"Yes. I dropped Mercy off at hers and Ben at Adam's, no problems at either." He looked at me, "What have you got to tell me? You're excited."

"I know that he wanted to meet my family." I told him as I pulled him into the lounge and onto the couch, "My sister called while you were out and asked to visit in two weeks, her children are begging to see me."

"You want my permission?" Warren asked.

"More like your agreement, this is your home too." I said smiled at the small expression of surprise the flitted across his face, "I wanted to check that you wouldn't mind our peace and quiet been destroyed by two small children and a puppy."

"A puppy?"

"That's what Ally said, I didn't ask more." Kyle said, "She and her husband will be there too of course."

"Of course." Warren agreed, then he kissed me quickly, "And of course I don't mind, I want to meet your family. After all you've met my pack."

"Well if you do okay with Ally then we might make it to next year's family barbecue, that'll be about as pleasant and welcoming as most of the pack was."

"Let's make sure your sister approves first." Warren suggested, "Are you going to call her back now?"

"No she's putting her son to bed, and he's probably already over excited about visiting us." I told him "I'll call her tomorrow." I decided we'd done enough talking for the moment and let my hands wander under Warren's tee-shirt, tracing the muscles of his stomach before pulling the shirt over is head.

"I take it we won't be doing this with your family here." Warren said as he removed my shirt.

"No, this is mine." I told him as I ran my hands over his skin, "All mine."

We stayed on the sofa for a long time, letting hands and mouths wander over exposed skin. Warren took the opportunity to push me back and leave a trail of light kisses and licks long each of the red marks on my stomach. I threatened my fingers into his hair and moaned softly, then louder as his lips moved higher to tease my nipples.

"We're not going to make it upstairs are we?" I groaned as Warren nipped at my flesh.

"We might." Warren said, "But if you want anymore you'll have to catch me first!" Then he was off me and disappearing from the room before I could fully comprehend what he had said.

"Tease." I shouted as I took off after him, his laughter guiding me through the house.

Later as we lay dozing on our bed in the lazy afterglow of excellent lovemaking I wondered exactly how much Warren differed from other werewolves. He was a highly dominant wolf and yet he would willingly cede me control in the bedroom, as he had tonight after I chased him through the house and finally pinned him to the bed. He was almost eager to allow me to pin him and take what I wanted until we were both screaming, which made me wonder of other male werewolves would allow that with their female mates. I knew that in the pack a female took her rank from her mate, if she had one, but would that extend to other areas of life?

Was the equality Warren and I shared because we were both men? I knew that he was stronger than me and that the only only reason I had beaten him was because he allowed it, if he hadn't I would have been powerless to stop him doing whatever he wanted. I occurred to me that the thought should be terrifying but it wasn't because I knew he would never do it, he would never hurt me or seek to control me. Unless he thought my life was in danger, I mentally corrected myself. If he feared that Warren would happily tie me to something, all the while apologising no doubt, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

Returning to my original though I wondered how Mercy would feel in my place, and it seemed like she might soon be, with both Adam and Samuel vying for her attention. Would she be able to accept a relationship where her partner had all control? I rather thought not, so in that case perhaps Warren wasn't an exception. At the same time though I found it hard to imagine the male mated wolves I had met turning control of any aspect of their lived over to their mates. Well maybe I could with Honey and Peter but he was naturally more submissive than she was and maybe that would make a difference. But I couldn't see Darryl or Charles Cornick allowing their mates to pin them to the bed and do as they wished.

"You're thinking too hard." Warren said as he brushed his fingers through my hair.

"Humm?" I replied, allowing my fingers to draw patterns on his chest which I was currently using as a pillow.

"I can always tell when you're thinking hard and you are right now, that means I haven't done my job right because because my brain is still mush but you can think about something enough to make you frown."

I hadn't actually realised I was frowning but I didn't argue with him. "It's nothing, my brain just gets too analytical sometimes."

"If you can use words like 'analytical' that your brain is working far too well. Let me fix that for you." He pulled me up and into a kiss and rolled us over so that he was stretched over me. He then set about turning my brain into mush and pretty soon I could only manage to think or say one word. His name.

The next day I called my sister back. "That's great news." She said, "The kids will be thrilled to see you, and if we come to you there's no danger of Mom showing up for a surprise visit."

"Is that why you want to visit?"

She sounded far too sheepish, "Yes, Mom is dropping hints about visiting that week and I could really do without her interference in how I run my life."

"She's very good at that." I agreed.

"So if I say we're visiting you then we're both safe, besides you probably don't want to risk exposing Warren to her too soon, it might scare him off."

"Oh I think Warren could handle our mother even on her worst day." And if she knew what he was she would probably run away very fast. She wasn't precisely xenophobic, or what ever the proper term for people who feared the Fae and wolves was, but that was mainly because it would be bad for the family image if she was seen to be. It was the same as her attitude to me, she might think I was an unnatural deviant, she might even say it in privet (and had) but she would never say it in public.

I chatted to my sister for a while longer and then Brendon insisted that he wanted to talk to me and so did Hannah even though she was so tired from her cold that she could hardly stay awake long enough to actually talk to me. When I finally got off the phone I relaxed back onto the couch and enjoyed the peace and quite of the house.

For the last few months I hadn't enjoyed the quiet and solitude as I did now, then it was a reminder of what I had lost when I split up with Warren. Now though it was just nice to get some time to myself, Warren was out with some of his friends from the Pack. They planned to go to some sort of Fae only bar, though I supposed that description was wide enough to include werewolves and Mercy. Whatever the correct term humans were not allowed so obvious I couldn't go with them, Warren had been about to turn them down until I intervened and insisted he go.

Yes I liked spending time with him and yes I was more than happy we were together again but at the same time we were both very independent men and we both needed parts of our lives that were just ours. I liked to go golfing occasionally with Mark and a few other lawyers from the area, while Warren's opinion was vary much along the lines of: 'Golf, a lovely walk spoilt'. He couldn't see the point of it and it certainly wasn't his idea of fun.

We both needed our own space, like every other couple, and if that meant that some nights he went out with his friends while I stayed home with a book then I was perfectly fine with that. Besides sometimes I just liked the quiet.

When Warren returned home that night he wasn't nearly as relaxed as I was expecting, I could tell he was agitated the second he walked through the door, even if his pacing hadn't given him away. I set my book aside, "What is it love?" I asked.

He didn't looked at me but kept up his pacing. "It's Ben, he's not getting any better, he's getting worse. He tried to kill himself tonight."

"What?" I asked getting to my feet, I'd never really met Ben, since having someone around when they were in wolf form didn't count as meeting in my opinion, and can't say I liked him from what I had heard but I was still shocked that he would want to kill himself, he didn't seem the type.

"There were a few of them at Adam's house tonight, some sort of games night on Adam's big screen TV." Warren wasn't one for electronic games, from what he'd told me most of the older wolves weren't but a lot of the Pack was still fairly young by wolf standards. "Ben was there as well but as soon as Adam left the house for even a moment he turned and attacked another wolf." He saw the question in my eyes and explained, "Attacking a more dominant wolf, and most of the Pack bar Honey and Peter are more dominant than Ben, without provocation or formal challenge is asking to be killed."

"Is he alright?" I asked.

Warren nodded, "He's been badly beaten but he'll live, despite his evident desire not to."

I walked over to where Warren was still pacing and pulled him into a hug, "Everything will be alright Warren, you'll see." I just hoped what I was saying was true.

He wrapped his arms around me to and said quietly, "I've never lost a member of my pack before and I don't want to start with Ben, he doesn't deserve it." He allowed me to lead him towards the sofa and I pulled him down next to me, my arm still around his head on my shoulder while I had my arm wrapped around his holding him to me.

"Ben went through some shit in the UK, not the accusations of rape but something else, something earlier. I don't know what, no one does but Adam I think. Still I do know it was bad and he should have the chance to learn to deal with it. He doesn't deserve what Littleton did to him and he doesn't deserve to die from the guilt." I didn't know what to say so I said nothing and instead just held him for as long as he needed.


	17. Blood Bound Part 14

AN: Sorry about the late update but there were internet issues over the weekend.

* * *

"Mercy's up to something." Warren said over dinner one night, "Adam's picked her up running as coyote twice this week already." He obviously noticed my confused expression, "When we're running as wolves we always wear collars, usually with Adam's details on the ID tag. The Marrok insists and Mercy follows the rules as well."

"So she's running around as a coyote and she keeps getting found and people assume she's a lost dog."

"If she's in the city." Warren said with a grin, "She has more than a few scars on her ass from unfriendly locals when she was running in the countryside."

I laughed, I could just imagine a very disgruntled Mercy picking the shotgun pellets out of her ass and cursing the idiot who shot her, loudly. "Any idea what she's up to?"

Warren shook his head, "Not for certain but I could guess." I gestured for him to continue. "I think she's hunting a vampire."

"I thought the demon vampire thing was dead." I said confused as to why Mercy would be hunting another of the vampires, and also wondering just how many there were in the Tri-Cities. But I knew that was one of the questions I defiantly shouldn't know the answer to.

"He is." Warren agreed, "But the one who made him isn't. The head of the Seethe let him go." Warren sounded very bitter about this and I couldn't blame him, Littleton might have been the one who had tortured him but it was Littleton's creator who was ultimately responsible for everything. And now that bastard was running around scot free.

I took Warren's hand where it rested not far from mine and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Do you think he'll try it again?"

"There was no other reason for her to let the bastard go, Stefan had more than enough evidence against him." It took me a second to decipher what he'd said. Stefan was the vamp he'd worked with and a friend of Mercy's. The identify of 'the bastard' was evident, Littleton's creator. Which meant the 'she' he'd refereed to must be the head of the Seethe, evidently that was the proper term for a group of vampire, sometimes I picked up more about the preternatural than I think Warren wanted me to.

"Is there anything that can be done?" I doubted I would be allowed or even able to tear Littleton's creator limb from limb but it would have been very enjoyable. Although I wasn't usually a violent person every time I looked at Warren I could see the lingering pain caused by the bastard vampire and every time Warren woke from a nightmare I wanted to make the bastard scream like his creation had made Warren scream

Warren shook his head, "No, the Pack cannot move against a member of the Seethe anymore than they can move against us. It would start a war, we'd win because Bran would back up but we can't afford it right now."

"Which leaves Mercy." I guessed, "She isn't Pack, not officially, so she can do something about it before the shit hits the fan again."

"Pretty much." Warren agreed and then decided to change the topic. "When's your sister and her family coming?"

"Friday evening." I told him, "Ally and Richard are both finishing early and they'll drive over once the kids are out of school."

"With the puppy." Warren checked and I could tell the whole idea amused him no end.

"With the puppy." I confirmed, "They're planning on heading home very early in Monday so the kids are back in time for school."

"So a whole weekend with two small children." Warren said, "This should be interesting, it's been decades, literally, since I had to deal with small children."

"Doesn't Jesse count?" I asked as I started gathering out plates and cutlery while Warren grabbed the empty glasses.

"Nah, she was already seven or eight when I joined the Pack." Warren told me as we went into the kitchen to load the dishwasher. "I haven't been around small children since before my change."

"Nieces and nephews?" I guessed.

"Yes." Warren smiled but he looked almost sad, "I never did find out if it was a boy or a girl." He saw the question on my face. "My littlest sister was expecting her first child, the fact that my parents were visiting her was the only thing that stopped me butchering them during my first change."

"How many of you were there?" I asked, he'd mentioned his family before when he'd first told me about his change but never the details.

Before he answered to took my hand and pulled me into the lounge where we settled on the couch. "There were seven of us." He told me. "I was the fourth child. I had an older sister, Mary, she was six years older than me, if anyone caused trouble for any of us she was on them and they regretted it but she was always subtle enough to never get in trouble for it." He grinned in fond memory, "Besides no one wanted to admit they'd been beaten up by a girl.

"Then there was Jonathan two years later but he died when he was ten. That wasn't so uncommon back then, in fact people thought my parents lucky to loose only one child. Peter was two years older than me, God he was a pain in the ass, always trying to get me into trouble with our parents. Martha and Edward were born two and a half years after me, what a double act they were, I suppose we should be glad they weren't both boys because it was only Martha's common sense that kept them out of the worst of the trouble."

"You really loved them." I said, the image forming in my mind was of a group of siblings who squabbled relentlessly amongst themselves but united the moment there was an outside threat.

"I did." Warren smiled, "My baby sister was called Jennifer. I think you'd call her a surprise. She was ten years younger than me, everyone was surprised when my mother conceived again, she was already almost forty. It wasn't an easy time and she nearly lost the baby. Mary had to take over looking after the rest of us and running the house when my mother was bed ridden, but later she said it was just good practice for the future. She must have been right, she'd had three healthy and well behaved children by the time I was changed.

"Jennifer was born a month early and she was so tiny that everyone thought she'd die. But she was so strong, she wanted to live and she did." Warren told me with a fond smile, "She was always so small, tiny even, like a doll. But she had such spirit."

"She was your favourite, wasn't she?" I asked with a smile.

"From the moment she was born." Warren told me, "I remember going to church the Sunday after she was born and praying to God to let her live. I was the one who shortened her name to Jenny, such a little girl shouldn't have such a big name." He laughed, "Once she could walk she was always following me around when I did my chores, she kicked up such a fuss when she couldn't go to school with me because she was still to young."

"I think I might have been like that with Ally." I told him, "Well not the going to school part but the following around, defiantly. There's a six year age gap between us so I always idolised her, until I grew up and then I took to scaring off her boyfriends if I didn't think they were good enough. I started doing that when I was twelve."

"I did that as well." Warren said with a laugh, "When the young men in the town started coming to court Jenny, believe me only the very best got as far as speaking to her. But it worked, she married this really great guy who was absolutely devoted to her, everything I could ever have wanted for my baby sister. She looked so beautiful on her wedding day but whenever I think of her I still see her as a little girl with pig-tails and a rag doll."

Warren had a far away look on his face and I knew that he was no longer with me in the present but back long ago when he'd still been human. "She took that doll everywhere with her, even when she was following me on my chores on the farm. One day she caught it on a fence post and tore the dress, she was so distraught that when she was asleep that night I took it from her and mended the dress." He shook his head ruefully. "I did a terrible job, sewing was a woman's job not a man's, I only knew how to from watching my mother teach my sisters. It took me hours to mend this one little tear but it was worth it for the look on her face the next morning."

"You miss her don't you?" I asked him, "You miss them all."

Warren nodded. "One of the things you learn as a wolf is to live in the present, we live so long that if you think about the past it'll drive you mad. But with you sister coming at the weekend it just made me think about them again."

"Did you ever try to find out what happened to them?" I asked.

"No." Warren said shaking his head, "After my change I had to leave until I could control my wolf and it took years, by the time I could go back too many years had past and I hadn't aged so I couldn't return. Then I just forced myself not to think about it, to almost forget them. I wouldn't even know where to begin looking now. But I do wonder, I wonder if Jenny had a boy or a girl, if she had more children, grandchildren even."

I was slightly startled by that and then wondered why I was. I suppose I was so used to hearing Warren refer to his pack as his family that the idea he might still have living blood relatives out there was shocking to me. Of course those he'd known would be long dead by now but their grandchildren and even great-grandchildren could easily still be running around Texas. I wondered how to begin researching that, it would make a brilliant gift for him. Even if all I was able to do was answer his question on whether his favourite sister had a boy or a girl.

I wondered if my sister would be able to help, she was good at that sort of thing, she'd helped her sister-in-law to trace her family. But the problem would be how to enlist her help without arousing her suspicion. Most people who wanted to look up ancestors started in the present day not in the 1800s.

I could hardly stop myself from laughing, Warren was pacing the hallway looking nervous as hell. In fact he reminded me of a few of the dates Ally had brought home over the years. My family were due at any minute and Warren was trying to put a hole in my floor with his nervous pacing.

Finally I couldn't help myself and I had to laugh, Warren glared at me and growled. "Sorry lover but you're just too funny." I told him, still grinning. "Don't worry so much."

"What have I not got to worry about?" He asked, still pacing. "Even if you don't count the werewolf thing, I'm hardly what you family had in mind for you."

"You're right, most of my family want a woman." I pointed out.

Warren growled at me again and I knew that now was not a good time for teasing him, "Kyle you're family have had money and power since I was born. They're well connected and well known. I'm nothing, a no one who's worked at countless bars and shops. I have no education, no money, it's only this last decade that I've even had a place to call home." He shook his head, "I'm nothing and no one would want me for their brother or son."

I pushed myself from the wall and planted myself firmly in Warren's path. I put my hands on his hips and pulled him against me. "Stop." I told him firmly. Keeping one hand on his hip I lifted the other until it cupped his cheek. "My sister won't care about that. You are a good man, the man I love and the man I want. That is what will matter to Alison. Not you past, not what you have or haven't got, not even that you're a wolf if you decide to tell her. She'll see us together and she'll accept you."

I kissed him then and it took lest than a second before he was kissing me back, his hands holding me tight against him. In his kiss I tasted desperation and I knew that he was genuinely afraid that my sister wouldn't approve and would try to split us up. Once again he was afraid he was going to loose me. I was really going to have to do something about Warren's self-esteem issues.

I broke the kiss and leaned my forehead against his. "Ally will approve." I promised him, "Because I love you. And even if she didn't I am not giving you up again." I promised him.

He smiled and kissed me again, then he started trailing kisses down my neck. As little I was wanted to I pulled his lips back to mine, if I let him continue then my sister would be getting a real eyeful. And he knew it.

It was probably a good thing that the doorbell went at that exact moment.

As was usual the doorbell provided about a ten second warning, because neither I nor Ally ever waited for the other to answer before walking in and both of her children had learnt that as well.

"Uncle Kyle!" I separated from Warren and turned just in time to catch my niece as she came flying at me. At only four she had yet to learn anything resembling restraint and when she was excited everyone in the neighbourhood tended to know about it.

I swept her up into my arms and swung her around in a circle as she giggled, clearly completely recovered from her cold. "Hey baby, how's my little Hannah?" She giggled again and wrapped her arms around my neck so I assumed she was just fine. "Brendon my man, how's it going?" At six my nephew considered himself to grown up for been picked up or hugged so I shifted Hannah until I was holding her in just one arms and high-fived him instead.

"I'm good uncle Kyle." He said. I heard my sister laugh and turned to see her standing in the doorway with her husband Richard beside her.

"I told you they missed you." She said with a laugh. She walked over and I kissed her on the cheek, I would have hugged her but a certain little girl shaped barnacle was still clinging to me.

"I never doubted you." I told her. "Hello Richard." I greeted my brother-in-law who was looking far too amused at the fact that I was almost buried under my family.

"Hello Kyle, how have you been?"

"Pretty good, though I think I have a few grey hairs from the stress."

"Ah yes." Ally said, turning to look around until she spotted Warren who immediately adopted a deer-in-headlights look, something that I found very amusing considering he was a wolf. "Are you going to introduce us?"

I took a deep breath and did as I was told, I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. When I'd introduced them I got to enjoy the sight of Warren squirming like a teenager under the gazes of four of my closest family. I nearly laughed when I could tell he was trying not to fidget, the second most dominant werewolf in his pack and my sister was making him squirm without even saying a word.

Hannah leaned her head close to mine and whispered in my ear, "Is he your boyfriend Uncle Kyle?"

"He is." I told her quietly knowing that Warren could hear exactly what we were saying.

Hannah then wiggled until I put her down, she walked over to Warren and tugged on his hand until he picked her up. Once she was on the same eye level as him she said, with a seriousness that only a four year old could manage. "If you hurt Uncle Kyle I'll eat all your chocolate."

"Well it seems you don't need me to do the threatening." Ally said with a laugh, "It's nice to meet you Warren." She added offering her hand to him. He shifted Hannah to one arm so that he could take her hand but rather then shake it he lifted it to his lips and kissed it.

"The pleasure is mine."

Ally laughed, "Oh you are a good one." She turned to look at me, "Hang on to this one." She advised.

"I intend to." I told her as Richard shook Warren's hand.

"You're looking well." He said, "Kyle said you'd been hurt?"

"It'll teach me to play the Good Samaritan." Warren said, I'd told him the cover story I'd given my sister. In fact it was the same story that we'd used with everyone who couldn't know the truth, and unfortunately it was a very believable story for some parts of Tri-Cities

"It was pretty bad for a while there." I said, walking over to him and wrapping my arm around his waist, "But everything's healed pretty well, it's just your ankle now isn't it love?"

"The doctor said the muscle damage will take a few months to full heal." Warren agreed.

"She's not too heavy is she?" Richard asked, gesturing to Hannah, who was still in Warren's arms and looking quite comfy there. He was no doubt concerned that the extra weight would do some further damage to Warren, if only he knew that Warren could pick me up with out any strain.

"She's fine." Warren assured him, then he glanced towards the front door, "I think Kyle mentioned a puppy."

Listening hard I could just make out the very faint whines of a puppy that was not happy at been left on its own.

"Yes, but we wanted to make sure he wouldn't be a problem first." Ally said, "I know Kyle said he didn't mind." She trailed off but Warren was able to fill in the gaps, she'd wanted to be sure it wouldn't be a problem with him.

"Bring the poor thing in before he whines himself horse." Warren advised, "I like dogs, I've always got on well with canines in general." I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"Bren why don't you go get him?" Richard suggested. Bren nodded, he still hadn't said anything about Warren, which worried me a little been that little bit older than his sister and very intelligent Brendon had already picked up on the tensions between me and my parents and according to Ally he was starting to question it.

Of course if Brendon got to go get the dog then Hannah had to go as well and the two of the dashed out the door. Giving us a chance to talk for a moment. "Thanks again for the weekend pass." Ally said, "Mom was dropping hints about coming for the weekend and I really couldn't face it, not this month with the annual inspection at the bank."

"It's fine." I promised her, "Remember how hard I try to avoid her? I've not seen her in two years."

"Welcome to the nut house." Richard said to Warren, "Also know as possibly the most dysfunctional family on Earth."

"I've met worse." Warren admitted, "But only just." I guessed he was talking about Adam and Jesse, and I supposed he was right. At least my parents had waited until I was an adult before effectively abandoning me, unlike Jesse's mother.

At that moment Brendon and Hannah came running back into the house followed but this little black shape. The puppy, which couldn't have been more than ten inches tall, immediately started running around the hallway in a manner that reminded me of Hannah when she'd has too much chocolate. It even managed to run head first into the side of a doorway.

Finally it seemed to notice Warren and I but rather than fear or defence, which I might have expected, it ran right over and started trying to jump up at us, demanding attention. Warren growled softly and it immediately stopped, instead rolling over on its back, with a smile Warren knelt down to scratch its belly. It allowed that for a moment, and looks so blissful I was almost jealous, then it seemed to remember Brendon and Hannah and jumped back up, running off to play with them And running into a table leg in the process.

"That thing is demented." Richard said with a shake of his head, "I wasn't planning on a staffie, but the kids both fell in love with him the moment they saw him, he was the runt of the litter as well as the only male left and been bullied by his bigger sisters so the kids decided we had to take him home."

"And he honestly doesn't seem to have two braincells to rub together." Ally added, "He runs into things as you saw and when I accidentally trod on his tail he didn't even seem to notice."

Warren and I both grinned at that, "So what's his name?" I asked, I couldn't very well keep calling him 'the puppy' all weekend.

"Ben." My sister answered

There was silence for a moment until Warren and I made the mistake of looking at each other, that set us off and we nearly collapsed to the floor with laughter, much to the confusion of my sister and brother-in-law. The kids had already disappeared, showing Ben-the-staffie around the house.

* * *

AN: Ben the puppy is based on a real dog, my parents. And he really does run into doorways like that, and furniture, and people.


	18. Blood Bound Part 15

AN: Enjoy

* * *

I helped Ally put the children to bed, as I did so I noticed that there seemed to be something off about Brendon. He glanced over at me several times when he thought I wasn't going to notice him. As we walked back down stairs I asked Ally about it.

She shook her head, "I don't know. It started last month at school and then mom said something to him as well."

"About me?" I guessed.

"I don't know." Which I took to mean that I was right, she hated to take sides between us. "I think that seeing you here with Warren has confused him, I tried to explain to him about the two of you on the way down but I'm not sure he understood it completely."

I knew he probably didn't, gay relationships aren't exactly easy to explain to a young child. "I'll talk to him." I suggested, "It might be easier that way."

She nodded and smiled at me as we entered the main lounge where Warren and Richard had been waiting and from the sounds of it discussing their baseball teams. "Thanks love." I said as I took the glass of wine that Warren held out to me as I settled on the couch next to him

"So how did you two meet?" Richard asked, "What?" He asked when he noticed the look that his wife giving him, "You want all the details too, you know it. You just don't want to ask."

"It's fine." Warren assured her, "I don't mind, we met at the gas station where I worked, Kyle stopped by every so often, oddly enough it seemed to be most often the shifts I worked."

"Funny that." I commented, it was also true. I had noticed the very cute guy who worked there and started stopping by every time I needed gas, eventually I figured out what shifts he worked and started going in only when I was certain that Warren would be on. "We danced around each other for a few months until one day my car broke down just down the road."

"He walked into the garage, dripping wet." Warren took over the narrative with a fond smile. "He asked if he could use our phone because his cell had died. I know a bit about cars from a friend of mine and since I was at the end of my shift I agreed to take a look at his car."

"It turned out that something or other was loose." I explained, and to this day I still don't understand exactly what was up with my car, "Anyway, Warren was able to fix it and I offered him coffee. Something must have have given away the fact that I thought he was very attractive." With his senses it would have been very hard for him to not notice that I was attracted to him. "So he asked if he could see me again."

"And he said yes." Warren put in and kissed me on the lips.

"That clearly worked out." Ally said, exchanging a look with Richard. They had never seen me with a man before, they had never seen me with anyone before. "So what happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. I knew exactly what she was asking, what had caused our separation. She'd asked countless times when we had been separated but I'd never given her a straight answer. And I couldn't give her a straight answer now. Warren wasn't out, at least not in that sense, and we had decided that it wasn't the time to tell them, not yet. We wanted to give them a chance to get used to Warren and the idea of us being together before we even considered dumping the whole werewolf issue on them as well.

Warren decided to help me out. "There was something I couldn't tell Kyle, I knew that it was going to break us apart but I couldn't help it. He knows now." Warren said taking my hand. "There are no secrets between us anymore." He assured my sister.

I could tell that Ally wasn't happy with that answer but she did at least seem reassured by it, she had been very worried about me for months. Since Warren and I had broken up. I had no doubt that she would still find time to interrogate my boyfriend one on one, but for now she was going to let it lie. Perhaps we could make use of the pool tomorrow, Warren didn't swim and Ally preferred to let the kids try to drown Richard and I.

We turned the conversation to the rest of my family as Ally filled me in on the family gossip that I missed out on by avoiding every single family engagement. I did hate that the estrangement between between me and my parents meant that I could no longer see most of my family, I was been deprived of the chance to see my cousins and their children. But it was just too uncomfortable to be there. Looking over at Warren though I was was reminded of how lucky I was, I at least got news of my family he had nothing and no knowledge of what had happened to them.

Inevitably the conversation to turn to Warren's family, a topic even more uncomfortable than our separation, if that was possible. "So Warren where are you from originally?" Richard asked.

"Texas." Warren answered. "But I don't have any family there anymore, they died. A long time ago." That would hopefully fend off any further questions from my sister and brother-in-law.

"Oh I'm sorry." Ally said, "But you don't have anyone?"

"Just Kyle." Warren said, I think I blushed slightly at that and I certainly couldn't resist kissing him again.

"No, now you have us too." My sister said, and I could see just how much the acceptance meant to Warren.

"I moved here a few years ago." Warren told them, "And when I did I made some of the best friends I've ever had and I found someone I want to spend the rest of my life with."

The statement shocked me, not the fact that Warren loved me but that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. And he couldn't. I would grow old and one day I would die, leaving Warren behind. There was another option I knew but I also knew that it was by no means a certainty, in fact the odds weren't in my favour. Most who attempted the Change died, Mercy had told me her adopted mother had and then her adopted father had committed suicide.

I had better odds because I was a man but ultimately there was a more than good chance that I would die and leave Warren alone again.

"Kyle what's the matter?" Richard asked, "You look like someone just killed your puppy."

"We should be so lucky." Ally mutter.

"Nothing." I assured them, "I just suddenly remembered something about a case I've been working on."

"In that case you need more wine." My sister insisted, refilling my glass. "There will be no more thinking about work or anything else business related until Monday, besides the stories flow better with alcohol." I couldn't argue with that and allowed my sister to embarrass me to her heart's content.

"That seemed to go reasonably well." Warren said as we got ready for bed.

"I can't wait to see the look on Mercy's face when I tell her about Hannah threatening you." I grinned as I shed my shirt. "You, the big powerful wolf, held prisoner by a little girl."

"She was very sweet, but there's something wrong with Brendon." Warren commented as he slipped under the covers in just his boxers. Usually we slept naked but with guests in the house, particularly young ones who didn't quite understand privacy, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I noticed the same thing, I think my mother said something to him but Ally wouldn't confirm it, which is her way of saying that I'm right but she doesn't want to get in the middle." I picked up Warren's clothes, which had once again landed in only the general vicinity of the laundry basket and then turned off the light before climbing into bed with him. "I'm going to talk to him tomorrow." I said as snuggled against Warren, been a wolf he was always so warm that it was like having a very large hot water bottle, a good thing since he insisted on keeping the AC on so high.

"It might help." Warren agreed.

"And you do realise that my sister is planning to ambush you tomorrow right?"

"I guessed, might as well get it over with." Warren said.

We lay in silence for a long time but I could tell that he hadn't fallen asleep yet. Finally Warren told me what was on his mind, "You weren't thinking about a court case were you." He said, "You were thinking about us, the future."

"Warren." I said, but I didn't know what to say past that.

"It's alright Kyle, most human mates think of it at one point or another."

"What will happen to us in twenty years? Thirty years? Will you still want me when I'm old enough that people mistake me for your grandfather?"

Warren lifted me head from where it was resting on his shoulder and kissed me, "I will always want you Kyle, you are my mate, nothing is more important than that. Nothing matters more. No matter what happens I will always love you."

"What about when I die?" I asked.

"I don't want to talk about it right now Kyle." Warren begged, "Please, let's just enjoy the time we have without worrying about the future."

"That won't change what will happen." I said pulling away from him and laying on my stomach with my head resting on my hands. "I will die one day, then what will you do?"

Warren sighed and turned to lay on his side with his head resting on one hand while the other played with my hair. "I never thought I would have this, a mate I loved more than anything, a home we can share and acceptance from those around us. This is more than I ever dreamed of and when I loose it I don't think I will want to go on. It was only the knowledge that you still lived that kept me going last time. If I lost that I would have nothing left."

We lay in silence again for a long time as Warren played with my hair and I tired to absorb the fact that Warren loved me so completely that he didn't want to live without me. Not in the cheesy high school way that so may people would say the words but with such deep conviction that I knew he literally could not see a life without me.

"There is another option." I said slowly and felt Warren's fingers stop playing with the hair at the back of my neck as he absorbed the meaning of my words.

"There is that." Warren agreed slowly and for all my years of reading people's feelings from the tone of their voice I couldn't tell what he thought about the idea. "But let's not talk about it, please. Not here and not now."

"Alright." I said leaning over and kissing him before pushing him back on to his back and settling once again against his side. But I knew the conversation wasn't over yet, this was one part of our relationship that we had never discussed and it wasn't something we would be able to ignore forever. Still Warren was right, the matter could be dropped for tonight. "Good night love."

"Good night Kyle."

I was woken the next morning by a small elephant landing on top of me, at least that was what it felt like. The truth was that Hannah had decided to wake us up and taken a running jump at the bed, landing directly on top of me. It seemed there would be no lie-ins this weekend.

There was a small thud against the side of the bed followed by a little whimper, "Puppy." Warren muttered as he buried his head deeper into the pillow. I would have liked to follow his example but there was a small girl sitting on my chest.

"Time to get up uncle Kyle!" She said and bounced slightly.

I groaned and looked over at the clock, not even eight yet. "No it really isn't."

"Yes it is, I'm hungry and I want white chocolate chip pancakes." She bounced on me again and I knew there was no hope of her going back to sleep.

"Fine, fine, I'm up." I said pushing her off of me and on top of Warren, misery loves company after all. I heard him groan as she used him for a trampoline instead of me, I climbed out of bed and pulled on my dressing gown. Warren had always teased me about it until I bought him on with a huge wolf on the back.

"Come on trouble, let's leave this lazy dog in here and make pancakes."

Hannah jumped off the bed, resulting in a relived groan from Warren and followed me, calling for Ben to follow her which he did without running into any furniture, for once.

I picked Hannah up and carried her down stairs and set her on the counter in the kitchen. As I mixed the pancake batter, and fought to keep the chocolate chips away from Hannah's little fingers, the girl in question told me all about school, again. Begin so young she still had a very short attention span and a poor grasp of time since she told me about things that she had told me before and spoke about things that happened months ago as if they only happened yesterday.

To say talking to her could be confusing would be an understatement.

Fortunately her long monologue was broken when there were pancakes on a plate in front of her and her main priority was stuffing her face. The smell of pancakes also brought Brendon down followed a few minutes later by Warren, neither had bothered dressing but Warren had at least thrown his robe over his boxers. Again I noticed the strange looks that Brendon kept giving Warren and I, as if he couldn't quite understand something.

When we'd all eaten, and made sure there was sufficient batter left for Ally and Richard, we were dragged into the lounge where Hannah and Brendon both wanted to watch their Saturday morning cartoons, so Warren and I were needed to keep the peace. And cuddle on the sofa, which we did for over two hours until Ally and Richard finally put in an appearance, both freshly showered and dressed.

"So kind of you to join us." I commented as they walked in.

"I see the kids woke you." Richard said as he and Ally took a seat, "It makes a nice change."

"Kid singular, plus the demented staffie." I told them, "Brendon put in an appearance about the same time Warren did. When they smelt chocolate chip pancakes."

"Speaking of which, what does a sister have to do to get some?" Ally said.

"Talk to your husband." Warren commented causing the four of us to burst out laughing and the children to give us strange looks for the ten seconds they could be diverted from the action on screen.

"I meant the pancakes." Ally said through her giggles.

"I know that." I told her, "I made sure there was some batter left and I even managed to keep Hannah from picking out the chocolate chips." She'd done that the last time I'd visited and we hadn't noticed until we'd settled down to eat. I pulled myself away from Warren, forcing him to sit up since he'd been using my shoulder as a pillow. "I'll go make you some, enjoy." I added gesturing to the TV.

"Oh how could I not." Warren said sarcastically, "This is so riveting and intellectually stimulating that I can practically feel my brain turning to mush and dribbling out of my ear."

My sister and brother-in-law laughed as they followed me into the kitchen where I made them pancakes as well. "Someone's grumpy this morning." Richard commented.

I laughed, "He usually is when he gets woken up early, and with a very good reason, or a reward." My smirk let them know exactly what I meant and my sister started giggling like a school girl. I also knew that Warren could hear every word I was saying and was undoubtedly paying more attention to us in the kitchen that whatever rubbish was on the TV.

I fed Ally and Richard then rescued Warren from the terrible kids TV by hauling him up stairs to get dressed. "If you think that lot is bad." I said as I closed the door to our room, "Then you should have seen the utter crap that Hannah watched when she was a little younger."

Warren however seemed very uninterested in talking about the TV preferences of my niece and instead pulled me towards the en suite, removing both our robes and boxers as he went. He silenced any comments I might have made with a long kiss and then turned on the shower.

"So I take it we're going to be getting dirty before we get clean?" I asked, not that I had any objections at all to that arrangement.

"Something like that." Warren agreed, "After all I deserve a reward for that wake up call this morning and for putting up with the rubbish they aim at kids these days."

"Mmm." I agreed, enjoying what he was doing with his hands, "You most certainly do."

When we finally made it back down stairs we were met by knowing looks from Richard and Alison, and then sent right back up stairs. Apparently while we were up stairs enjoying our shower the kids had decided that they wanted to make use of my pool, an activity more typically known as trying to drown Richard and I.

Warren opted out of swimming, been a werewolf it wasn't something he could do very well, in fact it was the preferred method of suicide. Instead he lounged on one of the chairs that I had scattered around the edge and enjoyed the late summer sun. Alison also opted out of swimming and snagged the lounger next to Warren, immediately engaging him in conversation. Ah, let the interrogation begin.

We played around for a while, an adults verses kids splash war ended in their favour but we let them win, honestly. When Hannah demanded to play sea horse with Richard, I had the chance to talk to Brendon.

"You're getting good at treading water." I said as I floated next to him "Have you been practising?"

He nodded.

"What's up Brendon?" I asked, "I've noticed, so have your mom and dad. Is it about me?" There was a slight pause then he nodded, "And Warren?" I guessed, this time there was a slightly firmer nod. "Has someone said something about us?" He nodded firmly this time.

I sighed and pulled him to the side of the pool and lifted him onto the side then climbed out and sat next to him. "So what happened?" I asked.

"The boys at school were calling each other gay and I asked Nana what that meant, because we were spending the weekend with her." I nearly groaned aloud at that, I could just imagine what my darling mother would have said given that opportunity. "She said that it was a bad word, that it was two when two men live together and they're very naughty to do that. She said it was bad and evil and made everyone unhappy." I was getting the impression that the only reason my mother had avoided her usual insult of 'unnatural deviant' was that Brendon didn't know or understand those words yet.

"Nana said that gay people are very wrong and bad, she said that they all end up unhappy, like you were last time you came stay with us. Were you unhappy because you're gay?"

Well at least he understood that I was gay, now if I could just undo the damage my mother had done. "No that wasn't why I was sad, I'd had a fight with Warren. You know that sometimes your mom and dad argue? Well that's what happened with me and Warren only worse."

"Like Peter's mom and dad? He said they had shouted at each other a lot and then his dad didn't live with them anymore."

I nodded, "Yes just like that. Warren and I split up like your friend's parents and I was sad because I still loved him."

"Was Nana wrong then?" Brendon asked, clearly confused. "She said it was bad for two men to love each other."

"Some people think that it is." I told him honestly, I would tell him the truth even if my mother wouldn't. "Some people think that it's wrong or evil for two men to love each other. They even say that it's against the will of God. But not everyone thinks that. I love Warren just like you mom loves your dad."

"So you don't like girls?"

"I never have." I told him, "I mean that I like them as friends but I have never loved a woman, only men from the time I was a few years older than you and as I grew up I learnt that was alright. After all if there are creatures like the Fae and now the werewolves in the world then it's not really that strange for a man to love another man is it? I mean compared to turning into a wolf once a month that's pretty normal."

"I guess so, but why did the boys at school call each other gay like that? They actually started a fight over it."

"Some people think that calling other people gay is an insult, like calling someone fatty or spotty because of how they look. Promise me you'll never do that, don't pick on people because of things they can't help. People don't choose to be gay, I didn't choose to be gay, any more than people choose to have blue eyes or freckles. It's just the way things are."

"So Nana was wrong when she said you were just trying to cause trouble for everyone?" Brendon looked thoughtful as he said it, I could tell that he was taking in everything I had said and was trying to fit it in to his view of the world.

"Of course not, I don't want to cause trouble but your Nana won't accept that I like men instead of women." I told him, I didn't want to cause problems between him and my mother but he needed to know the truth, that was the only way he would be able to make his own decisions and even though he was young, making decisions was important as it was the only way he would grow into a well rounded adult.

"So he's your boyfriend?" Brendon asked, pointing over at Warren. I nodded, "Should I call him uncle?"

I smiled, "If you like." I told him, "I know Warren won't mind, he doesn't have any family any more."

"Okay then." Brendon said, "Uncle Kyle and Uncle Warren."

"Good." I agreed with a grin, "And now we've got all the serious and grown up talking out of the way, I know what I have to do as your uncle." I snatched Brendon up and threw him in the pool where he landed with a splash and a squeal.

He surfaced laughing and I laughed too before I dived in a short distance from him. "Come on." I told him, "Let's go get your dad."

* * *

AN: Ah, the joy of attempting to explain gay relationships to a small child, my tip would be to not say that it was a joke (as someone I know did). I will be attempting to squeeze in one more chapter around all the packing and preperation.


	19. Blood Bound Part 16

Another all out splash war ensued, this one Brendon and I were able to win when we managed to recruit Hannah to our side and nearly drowned Richard. Leaving the children to it I swam over to the side of the pool where Warren and Ally were sitting, I could feel Warren's eyes on me as I pulled myself out of the pool and sat on the edge.

"Finished interrogating him yet Ally?" I asked.

Ally laughed, "Don't worry about it, I like this one Kylie."

"What did I tell you about that name?" I said as I stood up, "Warren some help here."

Warren laughed and reached out to grab Ally's legs where she was sitting on the lounger next to him, I knew that as soon as he had her legs pinned she wasn't going anywhere. With his preternatural strength she wouldn't be able to escape and for once I would be getting my revenge on her.

"Come on Warren." My sister begged as I started towards her, "Let me go," She shot a slightly panicked look at me, "You really don't want to do this."

"I'm pretty sure I do." He said as I grabbed her arms, "If I don't, then I don't think I'll be sleeping in our bed tonight."

"Damn right." I said as I picked her up by her arms and Warren grabbed her legs. "First loyalty is to partners." I looked over at Warren. "On three." I told him,we swung Ally over the edge of the pool, "One, two, three!" On three we threw her, fully clothed into the pool, her scream as she hit the water made me laugh.

"Thanks Warren," I said as we stood on the side of the pool at watched my sister surface coughing and spluttering, "I've wanted to do that for years!" Then I gave him a quick and reasonably platonic, at least for us, kiss.

"You are evil Kyle!" My sister shouted as she surfaced and then coughed, she'd obviously accidentally swallowed some water when we'd thrown her in.

I laughed, "Yes, but I'm so good at it." Unfortunately I was so busy laughing at my sister that I didn't notice the evil gleam in Warren's eye.

A second later and I was the one coughing up the water having been pushing in by my mate. I surfaced coughing and spluttering to see my family attempting to tread water and laugh at the same time. "Thanks!" I glared at Warren who was also laughing, "You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"You wouldn't do that." Warren insisted and by God did I hate his ability to do the cutest puppy dog eyes in the world, I was just about powerless to resist. "Fine." I bitched, "But I owe you for that and I will be collecting."

"Oh I'm sure you will." Warren replied flirtatiously. I responded by splashing water at him, I might not be able to pull him in but there was nothing to stop me getting water in him. After all it wasn't like he was the Wicked Witch of the West. The thought made me laugh.

"What's so funny Kyle?" My sister asked as she swum to the side and climbed out.

"Warren as the Wicked Witch of the West." I told her truthfully, despite the strange looks it earnt me from her and Richard. The children had already decided that since the adults had finished pushing each other in the water we were now boring and had started seeing who could hold their breath longest underwater.

"Something you forgot to mention Warren?" Ally asked as she wrapped herself in one of the big towels I had lying around the side of the pool.

"No, no." Warren assured her. "Strange costumes is entirely Kyle's department. Have you seen the lavender cowboy outfit?"

"No." Ally said turning towards me, Richard also swam over so he could hear better over the excited squeals of his children. "Are there photos?"

Warren grinned, clearly enjoying my embarrassment far too much, "There should be, after all it was a college stunt originally, now he just uses it to confuse his opponent."

"This I want to see." Richard said as he leaned against the side of the pool.

"No way." I told them, "Only an advantage at work or excessive amounts of alcohol would make me wear that."

"Wear what?" Brendon had apparently overheard at least some of it and swum over to find out what we were talking about, Hannah following him.

"Apparently your uncle had a purple cowboy costume." My sister said with such and evil grin that I could practically see the devil horns on her head, "But he won't let us see him in it."

"Please Uncle Kyle?" Both of the children immediately started begging.

Far more effective than their begging though was what Warren whispered in my ear so quietly that I could barely hear him over their chatter. But I certainly liked what I heard.

"Fine." I agreed, adding a quick glance at Warren to make sure he realised that it was his arguments I was agreeing to rather than the kids persuasions. "It's lunch time anyway."

Warren managed to be very persuasive while Richard and Ally got the children dry and dressed so I agreed to put on the cowboy costume after I secured his promise that he wasn't going to make me go outside. Family was one thing, the general public was something completely different when alcohol or money wasn't involved.

"Very sexy." Warren commented as he snagged the matching purple hat off the shelf and placed it on my head. "You know this reminds me of a film we watched a while ago."

"Brokeback Mountain?" I suggested and he nodded. "Let's hope we have a happier ending." I kissed him, "Now let's go brave the laughing hyenas."

"Well I was starting to think you two had got lost up there." My sister called from the kitchen as she heard us on the stairs.

"I told you this house was far too big." Warren called back as we reached the bottom. "Are your ready for a good laugh?"

"Always am!" Richard called and Warren pushed the door open then stepped aside so that my family could get a good look. There was absolute silence for a moment, then Hannah giggled. That set everyone else off and in a moment the whole room was laughing, even I couldn't help joining in.

"I can't believe you actually put that on." My sister said, wiping away the tears of laughter.

"You can thank Warren." I told her with a grin, "He can be very persuasive when he wants to be.

"Thanks Uncle Warren." Brendon said as he finally managed to stop laughing.

"You're the best uncle." Hannah said enthusiastically.

I noticed that Warren's eyes looked suspiciously watery when the children said that and I remembered what he'd said about his own family, his little sister Jenny had been expecting her first child when he was Changed and he never knew what happened. Unknowingly my niece and nephew had given him his family back. "You're welcome." He said, hugging first Hannah and then Brendon where they were sitting at the breakfast eating their lunch. "But what does a guy have to do round here to get lunch?"

My sister laughed again and turned back to the huge pan of mac and cheese that she had on the stove, clearly the children had been allowed to choose lunch today. As she filled two bowls I noticed Warren surreptitiously wipe his eyes, then he turned back to the rest of us and accepted our bowls from Ally since he was closer. He handed mine to me and we settled at the breakfast bar with the children, Ally and Richard joined us.

We chatted about various things over lunch and then discussed what we should do for the rest of the day. Everyone was in favour of a movie night so that was what we settled on, we also agreed that it would be kid's choice though we knew we'd probably end up regretting it.

Since it was a movie night in summer the kids both wanted ice cream, and after taking one look at the vanilla in my freezer they also decided that a trip to the store would be needed. I couldn't blame them. There had been more flavours in just last week but then Warren and I had found a new way to cool off, enjoy each other and eat ice cream all at the same time. Unsurprisingly there was little ice cream left by the time we were done.

Warren must have known that I wanted the chance to talk to Ally, it was scary how well he could read me sometimes, so he offered to go to the store with the kids and insisted that Richard help him. Laughingly he claimed that was only used to watching one teenager not two hyperactive and over excited children. While they headed out Ally and I cleaned up.

"So I take it Warren passed the sisterly inspection then?" I asked as we filled the dish washer.

"He's a good one Kyle." Alison said with great affection in her voice, "If I wasn't married you might have some competition on your hands.

"I doubt that." I told her. "But I'm glad you like him."

"So when are you planning on introducing him to the rest of the family?" Ally asked as she wiped down the breakfast bar.

"How about never?" I suggested.

Ally shook her head, "You're going to have to eventually you know. You can't cut out the family completely it would hurt Brendon and Hannah."

"I thought mother's were travel agents for guilt trips not sisters." I complained, and she knew she had me with that argument. To avoid introducing Warren to my parents I would have to miss every birthday and Christmas my niece and nephew had and I couldn't do that to them. Or Warren who I knew would be more hurt by my trying to keep him out of that part of my life than he would be by anything my family could say to him.

"Perhaps you can come to us at Christmas and then to mom's New Year extravaganza. If nothing else it'll mess up her match making plans." I had to agree with her there. My mother's New Year parties were something of a legend and always very uncomfortable for me as she tried to set me up with every unmarried woman in the room. My mother suffered from the delusion that been gay simply meant I hadn't met the right woman yet rather than that there was no 'right woman' for me.

"Or you could join us for Thanksgiving." Ally and Richard spent alternative Thanksgivings at her parents and his, obviously this year it was her turn to be at home.

I shook my head at the idea. "I'll have to decline, I still owe Warren a slap up Thanksgiving dinner, I promised him one last year and it got cancelled.," By what I now knew was a kidnapping and murder plot so at least there had been a good reason. "Perhaps next time." I suggested, that would give us two years to find a better excuse to avoid it.

My sister gave me a look that clearly said she did not believe I would ever be joining my parents for Thanksgiving and she was probably right. Since we'd finished the cleaning we went into the lounge to await the return of the rest of our family. We settled at either end of the sofa and the turned towards each other slightly. Ally tucked one of her legs under herself and I draped my arm across the back of the sofa. It was a position from our childhoods, one we often adopted when one of us wanted to talk.

"I have a question to ask you." I said at last, this was a conversation I wanted to have while Warren couldn't hear it and this would probably be the only time over the weekend when I'd get than chance. "If I wanted to trace what happened to someone from the 1800s how would I do it?"

"Why would you need to know that?" Ally asked.

"A friend of mine is trying to trace her family." I told her, "She managed to trace it back to one man in the 1800s but he moved away from the rest of his family and she's trying to find out what happened to them. I mentioned that you help Richard's sister with her family history."

"Sure, I can give you a few pointers." Ally said, "I assume your friend had the birth certificate or at least the details for her ancestor."

I nodded, ok so I didn't have Warren's birth certificate but I did know when and where he was born so I should be able to find a copy of his birth certificate.

"Alright then, I know a few websites you can look into." My sister said, "I'll jot them down for you, once you find the man's parents you can look for possible siblings and descendents."

"Thanks sis." I told her and found her a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote down the websites and handed it back.

"Your friend will still probably have to do some leg work because not all the records for the period are online yet."

"I doubt that will be a problem." I told her.

She gave me a long look and then said, "This isn't for a friend is it? This is for Warren, he told me all his family is dead, you're trying to trace his family for him aren't you?"

I shook me head, "And they say I'm the cleaver one." I muttered and then sighed, "I am but it's a surprise so please don't say anything." Provided she didn't figure out that the one I was trying to trace was Warren himself then we should be alright. She'd taken to Warren well enough but I wasn't sure what would happen if she found out he was a wolf. Alison might be accepting of Fae and wolves in general but it could be a completely different matter when it was within the family.

"If you need any more help let me know." She promised.

"Thank you." I told her. We talked about inconsequential things until the family came back. The kids were all very excited about watching the movie, since apparently the only one they could agree on was 'The Chronicles of Narnia:The lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'.

Because there were so many of us we couldn't us the TV room upstairs so we set up in the lounge. I closed the curtains to darken the room while Warren moved the coffee table, always leave heavy lifting to the werewolf. I left Ally and Richard to settle the kids while I fetched the ice cream.

Balancing three tubs and six spoons, I returned to the lounge and found that Ally and Richard were settled on one sofa, Warren was on the other and the kids were on the floor with about half a dozen cushions, cushions I recognised from my TV room upstairs which at least explained where they had disappeared off to. I handed the cookie dough flavoured ice cream to the kids and then the double chocolate chip to my sister.

"What's the occasion?" She asked, as children we had always fought over the double choc chip, the rules were that if it was a special occasion for one of us, a birthday or a special achievement, then that person got it.

"Warren prefers mint choc chip." I told her as I passed it to Warren and took a seat next to him.

"It must be love." Ally said wistfully.

"What ever." I said, "Just start the move." I added as I settled against Warren's shoulder.

Unlike most movie I'd watched with Warren there were very few sarcastic comments and no innuendos, most likely because we had company, other than Mercy, and because there were children present. Still he couldn't resit one rather snarky comment.

"Yet another film where wolves get bad press." He complained, "Why are they always the bad guys? Or worse, the servants of the bad guys?"

"There, there honey." I said only half paying attention to his ranting and stroking his hair as I would his fur if he was in wolf form. That made Ally and Richard laugh, the kids were far to involved with the movie.

Warren poked me in the side, "It's not fair, wolves always get bad press, have you seen 'Never Ending Story'?"

"It was one of my favourite movies when I was a kid." I told him softly.

"But can you name a single movie where wolves are the good guys?" Warren persisted.

"Err." I thought for a moment before finally admitting defeat. "No I can't." I kissed him on the forehead, "But that doesn't mean there aren't any."

"Sush!" Brendon turned away from the screen and hissed at us. We laughed but did as we were told and I resolved to try and fins one film where wolves or werewolves were portrayed in a positive light, I'd ask Mark at work or maybe a few of my old college buddies, one of them had to know one.

We ended up watching two movies, the second one we put on after dinner was 'Peter Pan'. Getting the two children into bed afterwards was tricky, both were hyperactive and overexcited. After good nights from all four adults and a couple of stories, we were finally able to get them to sleep.

"I thought they would never fall asleep." Warren said as he collapsed down on the sofa, "I finally see what Adam meant when he said his daughter was a handful when she was little."

"Who?" Ally asked.

"Adam." Warren carefully didn't say his surname, after all the name of Adam Hauptman was hardly unknown to anyone who keep an eye on the news and my sister and brother-in-law did. "He's a friend of mine, we met just after he moved here a few years ago. He has a teenage daughter and he was saying that in some ways she was far more trouble as a child then she is now, though the result is still the same, she wants to stay up later than she should."

We laughed at that, then I suggested that we set up my games console, Richard instantly agreed but Ally just rolled her eyes and went upstairs to fetch a book. For the rest of the evening Richard, Warren and I competed on various games while Ally read, at least that's what she pretended to do but I noticed more than once that her eyes strayed to the screen or her husband.

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AN: First of all a question: Do you think Ally (and Richard/ the kids)should find out that Warren is a werewolf? Either PM me or just put it in a review.  
Second, this will be the last update until probably mid-June, further details of what I'll be up to are on my profile.  
Adios for now  
~ Shlane


	20. Blood Bound Part 17

AN: I don't think I can say sorry enough but anyway, Sorry! I know that the middle of September isn't much like the middle of June but there have computer issues and I needed to read Silver Borne (after which Samuel and Ariana wouldn't get out of my head long enough to type his chapter) so again sorry. This will be the last of the Blood Bound chapter and the Iron Kissed should be coming sometime soon (hopefully a lot sooner than this one was.)

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The rest of my family's visit went well, though I started to suspect that my sister and brother-in-law noticed that Warren wasn't precisely 'normal' but no one said anything. Ally made a few more comments about us joining the family for Christmas but I wasn't quite ready for that yet. Warren was the first guy I had even introduced to my sister as my boyfriend, officially at least she'd met a few friends of mine that I had dated at one point or another, but I wasn't ready to go from introducing him to the one accepting member of my family to introducing him to the whole hostile lot of them in just a few months, perhaps next year we could crash one of the family parties.

Watching Warren with my family made me feel warm inside, neither of us really had a proper family. He had his pack and I had my sister but not the true extended family that were bound by love and affection.

It also gave me a good idea about what Warren could do as a profession. He'd been doing some office work for me but I was certain there were far better options for him. I'd seen him handle redneck gay-bashers and force them to back down with just a few words. In fact there were very few people who could force Warren to back down. His natural senses would also give him an edge in tracking people down. All traits that would make him a very good PI.

With disturbing regularity I had clients who were scared of their abusive soon-to-be-ex's, and often there were children involved. The type of men who abused their spouses, and occasionally the reverse too, did it because the only way they could feel powerful was to hit someone weaker than them. I seriously doubted that they could stand up to Warren, not to mention any of them who tried to hit him would be in for a shock.

Of course a PI needed a licence and generally at least a high school education, which could be something of a problem, but then again I knew quite a lot of influential people, many of whom owed me favours. It would take time but I could certainly organise it. First though I'd need to talk to Warren about it, he'd done some investigating for me and played bodyguard to a woman who was sacred of her husband but I wasn't sure if he'd want to do it as a career. We could talk about it once my family had left, which they did, along with the demented staffie that had taken to following Warren around, early in Monday morning as planned and as sorry as I was to see them leave I was grateful to have our peace and quiet back again.

The next few days passed without issue, Warren's ankle was as good as it would be getting anytime soon since it still needed for the muscles to regrown. Life settled into a routine that Ii liked since it meant that Warren spent most nights with me, he still occasionally slept at his own house but only usually when he was too tired to drive all the way out to mine. A bit more, very subtle, prodding and in a few months I might even be able to convince him to move in with me.

We talked about the idea of him become in PI-cum-bodyguard for my firm, when I pointed out that it wasn't anymore dangerous than working at the local Stop and Rob he laughed and told me that he'd give it a try. While we waited for his paperwork to be sorted out, and I would need to 'remind' a few people of the favours they owed me, he would continue to do the odd jobs for me and the firm so he didn't feel like he was completely sponging off me. Not that I minded but it stung at Warren's pride to take charity so I didn't argue.

One night, an hour or two after sunset, meaning about eleven at night given the time of year, Warren walked in muttering about Mercy and her complete and utter lack of sanity. "The woman is crazy, absolutely beyond sanity. She's not just a few fries short of a happy meal she's lacking everything but those few fries!"

I laughed. "Good evening to you too love, I was starting to think you weren't coming back tonight." I said setting the papers I was reading on the coffee table as Warren dropped onto the couch beside me and muttered an apology about not calling. I kissed him and then asked, "so what's Mercy done this time?"

"She's playing Mercy the Vampire Slayer again."

"What do you mean?" I asked, I thought she was done with that.

"Remember I told you that the bastard who created the demon possessed vampire got off scot free? And that Mercy was hunting him?" I nodded, he'd mentioned it at some point before my family's visit. "Well she found him, and killed him. And if the Seethe ever find out they will kill her."

"Doesn't Mercy have a friend who's a vampire? Surely he'll protect her."

"She does and he might." Warren allowed, "but I wouldn't trust a vampire as far as you could throw him."

I gave a little laugh at that. "So what happened?" He recounted what had happened, as best they knew it. I hoped that the leader of the vampires would by the story and not go after Mercy but I wasn't holding my breathe on it. The walker seemed to be attracting trouble recently. I'd seen the special report about the house burning down on the ten o'clock news, it must have been a slow day news wise, which was something of a relief following all the violence of the last month or two.

"On the upside, Ben's back to his usual self." Warren added.

"From what I've heard of him that might not be considered a good thing." I laughed.

"I mean he's back in human form and not constantly trying to kill himself." Warren said as he poked me in the ribs. "Improvements in personality might take a damn site longer but he does seem to have developed a fondness for our Mercy."

"Oh?" I asked, mildly interested, it wasn't that Mercy was unlovable it was more that, form what I've heard, Ben hated women. In a misogynistic way as opposed to homosexual.

"She told Ben, in his wolf form, where she was going and what she planned to do. When Adam came back, Ben was waiting for him in human form. They didn't know exactly where Mercy was because she didn't say so the two of them went looking for her." Warren had already mentioned that part.

"So what makes you think he actually likes her?" I asked, curiously.

"Well firstly I think he's grateful that she killed Andre, and so am I."

"Me too." I said leaning against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me.

"And second he actually refereed to her by name as opposed to something along the lines of 'that coyote bitch'. Normally the only women who get called by name are the three pack females and Jesse. In fact it's a rare event for Ben to use woman rather than some swear word."

"Charming." We sat in silence for a while just enjoying been together again, it had been a month since our reunion and things were going pretty well for us. I was learning to deal with the fact that Warren would never be able to tell me everything about his life and he was learning that I was never going to leave. We had rough spots, as all couples did, but now that the major secret was out and I'd had a taste of life without him, I wasn't about to let any minor matters interfere with what we both wanted. The question of my mortality still hung in the air, the one topic we didn't speak of, and I knew we would eventually have to deal with it but not yet. I was still young enough that we had years before we needed to face the reality of our differences in life span.

Finally Warren broke the silence. "So what does a wolf have to do to get fed around here?" He asked, I laughed as his stomach backed up the question with a loud grumble.

"Kiss me and you might find out." I suggested.

"Only a kiss?" Warren asked as he proceeded to kiss me senseless.

When we parted I sighed contentedly. "And maybe more later but for now, let's get you fed." I pulled myself out of his arms and stood before offering him my hand and pulling him to his feet. "And for a kiss like that you get dessert to."

I was about to head to the kitchen when he pulled me into his arms so my back was against his chest and kissed my neck as he whispered. "I assume you mean other than you."

I twisted my head to meet his kisses. "That dessert we can both enjoy later." I promised him and then pulled him into the kitchen. Warren decided he was simply too hungry to wait for the beef casserole to heat up in the oven so I put it in the microwave instead, I hated my food warmed that way but since I wasn't eating it I couldn't complain. One advantage of living with a werewolf is never having to worry about what to do with the leftovers, generally because there weren't any leftovers.

I joined Warren for the dessert since I hadn't had any earlier, there's nothing worse than watching someone else eat cake and not having any yourself, even if you ate your cake earlier. I cut myself a slice of the raspberry cheese cake and then handed the rest to Warren.

"Are you trying to fatten me up or something?" He asked. I gave a non-committal shrug but the truth was that yes, I was trying to fatten him back up, he was still underweight from his body trying to heal the grievous injuries that the demon possessed vampire had given him and from some of the things I'd overheard and seen he hadn't been eating properly since we'd separated. And it turned out that fattening up a werewolf was no easy task, but I was determined to succeed, even if I had to resort to my grandmother's chocolate brownies to do it.

Despite his words he was quick to dig into the majority of the cheese cake. "I heard something else at Adam's today."

"Oh?" I asked as I took the first bite of my slice, it tasted good enough that I wished I had a werewolf's metabolism and could eat as much as I wanted without having to worry about it.

"Apparently someone at the hospital has managed to talk Samuel into performing at the Tumbleweed festival this year."

"He sings?" I asked. The annual folk music festival was something I had found the year after I moved to the Tri-Cities, and hadn't missed since. It attracted performers of all ages and music styles, from jazz to Celtic and often quite a few well known performers from the Seattle and Portland areas as well.

"He plays too."

"What instrument?"

"I've heard him play guitar and violin but I'm sure that's not the limit of his repertoire, he's had long enough to learn." He took another forkful of cake. "I was once lucky enough to hear Samuel perform with his father and brother, it wasn't something you could forget."

"I take it they were good." I said with a smile.

"That would be an understatement." Warren agreed. "Wait until you hear him, assuming we're going of course."

"You think I'd miss it?" I asked in mock outrage, "I haven't missed a Tumbleweed since I moved here and I'm not about to start now. Besides, apart from staying in bed with you all day, what else have I got to do on Labour day?"

"We could do that part later." Warren suggested hopefully.

"You must have read my mind." I agreed with a grin, "I assume Mercy will be joining us again this year." Last year the three of us had gone together and had a great time of it."

"Probably." Warren frowned, "she won't want to risk going with Adam."

"More werewolf politics?"

"More like not wanting to piss one Samuel off by going with Adam." I shook my head, poor Mercy caught between two dominant men like that, both of whom wanted her. I also pitied Samuel and Adam, but mostly Mercy, after all it wasn't as if she had asked to be put in that position. "All of the pack will be there." Warren continued.

"Really?"

Warren nodded. "In fact if word gets out that Samuel is performing there might be more than just our pack there."

"Really?" I didn't know what the rules were about werewolves visiting the territories of other pack,and I should probably find out about that one, in case I wanted to plan any romantic getaways for us. Or for that matter just a holiday, which I think we could both do with at some point in the not too distant future. A nice weekend somewhere.

Though if it was too much hassle then I would hope that the majority of my family lived in another pack's territory and I would have the perfect excuse for never seeing them. Ah silver linings and such.

"No one wants to miss one of the Cornicks performing."

"Then I'm looking forward to it." I told him. We finished our cake and I put the plates and forks in the dishwasher. "What type of music does Samuel tend to perform."

"Celtic usually." Warren told me as he leaned against the counter and watched me load and dishwasher and set it going. "He and his father were from Wales originally."

"But not Charles." I said thinking of the Marrok's other son who I'd met briefly then they had come to help sort out the demon possessed vampire.

"No Charles was born after they came to this country, about two hundred or so year ago. The Marrok and Samuel are much, much older."

"What do you mean?"

"No one knows for sure, older wolves don't like to talk about the past much."

"I noticed." I pointed out, getting information about his past out of Warren was, at times, only marginally easier than blood from a stone.

He ignored my interruption. "And time wasn't always as well marked as it is today, especially for common people who often couldn't read or write. But it's generally believed that Bran is the oldest werewolf in North America, if not the world."

I looked over at him. "How old would that make him?"

"You aren't going to let this drop are you?" I shook my head and he gave a frustrated sigh, "fine then. The only wolf I can think of in the US who is possibly older then Bran is The Moor and he was born around the sixth or seventh century but generally we think Bran is older." I stared in disbelief at him as I remembered the young looking, unassuming young man I had met once and tried to accept the knowledge that he had lived centuries.

"Wolf legend has it that Bran and Samuel were changed at the same time but the details have been lost and neither of then speak of it, nor does Charles if he knows."

My mind seemed to be getting an information over load again, as it often did when I managed to get Warren to talk about aspects of werewolf life in general rather than how it related to him personally. So I tried to move the conversation back to a safer area, "so who's the oldest in the pack? You?"

Warren laughed, "no, no. That would be Peter, he was changed around the time of the American Revolution. I'm the second oldest." He continued. "Actually as packs go we're quite young, everyone bar Peter and I were born in the twentieth century and in fact most are younger than Adam who was changed in Vietnam."

"Right." I said, though I suspected that I still looked rather dazed, I could deal with Warren and Peter's ages but I think it was when the age started hitting four figures that my mind started having trouble.

"Come on." Warren said looking slightly concerned for me. "Bed time for the poor human." He added the last part with a laugh.

As me pulled me up to our bedroom I remembered something my sister had told me during her visit and I started to laugh.

"What?" Warren demanded as me pulled me through the bedroom door.

"Oh just something my sister mentioned." I told him as he started to strip my clothes off and I returned the favour. "A vampire in a book she read was born in the eighteen hundreds in Texas, and apparently they got a very pretty actor to play him in the movie version."

Warren pushed my shirt off and stopped to look at me. "I'm not sure whether I should be offended or not."

"I'd go with not, after all I'm sure you're much prettier."

"And real." He added as she hand slid under the waist band of my boxers.

I moaned, "oh yes. Defiantly real, I like real."

"Good." Warren withdrew his hand, despite my moan of protest. He pushed me back onto the bed and pinned me there. "Because tonight I want to see how loud I can make you call my name."

It turned out the answer was loud enough that it was probably a good thing that my house was a fair distance from the neighbours.

* * *

AN: So that's the last of the Blood Bound chapters, Iron Kissed coming soon but there's likely to be less of those since Warren and Kyle aren't in it as much


	21. Iorn Kissed Part 1

AN: What can I say except sorry for dissapearing for so long, I have no real excuse for it or defence except to say that at least I didn't leave it on a cliff hanger. I will not promise to catch up with the novels but I will promise not to vanish again until I have put up all the chapters for Iron Kissed.

There will be less chapters for Iron Kissed that there were for Blood Bound since the boys are in it less, except at the beginning at end, however there should still be at least four chapers. And without further ado, enjoy

* * *

Iorn Kissed - Part 1

Bad Movie Night came round once a week, it was something we had started over a year ago and been put on hold while Warren and I were separated. However with our reunion several weeks ago we had decided to revive it, meaning that every week a different person got to choose the movie we watched, this week it was my turn. Last week we had being at Mercy's and she had chosen To Wong Foo, while Wesley Snipes was an incredibly attractive man he made an absolutely hideous woman and I really hoped to get that memory out of my head. I was currently standing in the movie rental store and scanning the racks for a choice, I had being looking for Blade III to help block out the memory of Snipes as a woman but unfortunately they seemed to be out so I had to pick something else.

Scanning the shelves my eyes were caught by one of the titles, Queen of the Damned, and I remembered Ally mentioning it, something about a scantily clad pretty boy. This should be something Mercy could appreciate as much as Warren and I. I quickly went to the checkout desk and got the film, then I headed to the store, movie night needs popcorn.

My next stop was a corner in the back streets of Richmond, it was an area frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers but they were not the reason I was there. One of my clients needed proof that her husband was being unfaithful and deliberately spending most of their money before the divorce settlement was finalised and in an area like this there was only one person that I would trust to do the required surveillance work.

I had no sooner pulled up at the curb than Warren appeared at my window, out of the corner of my eye I was aware of several prostitutes looking disappointed and moving away. "Hey lover." I said as I wound the window down.

"Kyle." He said with a grin, "I followed him and let's just say if these whores always get paid as much as he was giving then they could afford some decent clothes and maybe some food."

I smiled, "Like I thought." I agreed, "Now get in this car before we both get done for solicitation."

Warren laughed as he walked around the car and got in the passenger side. Once he was inside I leant over and kissed him in a way that would leave any passing cop in no doubt that there was much more to us than a prostitute and his client.

Warren and I were working on getting his PI license sorted out but it was taking time, in the meantime he was doing the odd jobs for me so that he wouldn't feel like he was freeloading off me. Not that I cared, I had more than enough money, but Warren had his pride and despite my jokes, he did not consider being my lover as paying what he felt he owed me. So we'd come to a compromise; he lived with me and did jobs around the office, and in the field once his ankle was up to it, until his license came through.

Once he was a full licences PI we'd see what happened but I really hoped he wasn't thinking about going back to his apartment. Staying at my house made much more sense; there was more space for one and less annoying neighbours for another. And as long as he never lied like that again we would be fine.

But that was still a few months away at least and for now we had other things to focus on. "So he's defiantly blowing their money deliberately?" I question as I pulled away from the sidewalk.

"Oh yeah." Warren agreed, he held up a camera. "I have the photos to prove it. He withdrew a large amount of money and then proceeded to gamble most of it away, mainly on the dog track but usually on the rank outsider so that he lost every time, and he was paying the whores an outrageous amount for even a blowjob and believe me he had a few of those this afternoon."

I winked at him, "Made you horny?"

"Watching that guy get blown by a ho? No, but imagining the two of us, later." He grinned at me, "Let's just say that once the film is over we're going to be having a rather late night." I took my eyes of the road long enough to smile at him and I could see the amusement, interest and arousal in his eyes, tonight would certainly be something to look forward to. "What film did you end up getting?"

"Queen of the Damned." I told him, "Vampires."

"Isn't that based on a book?" Warren asked, "I think it was by Anne Rice." He would know, my reading tastes ran more to Nora Roberts, Warren on the other hand would read whatever was in the thrift store.

"My sister says so." I explained, "But very loosely, apparently Interview with a Vampire was faithful, Queen of the Damned is pretty boys without shirts."

"Very nice." Warren agreed.

We arrived at my house in West Richmond a short time later and were greeted by the dreamy faces of Jane and Dick, the naked male and female statues in the entrance hall. Well they were naked when I bought the house, now Jane wore a plaid skirt and orange halter top while Dick wore a hat on his rather impressive erection. Originally it had been a top hat but a couple of weeks ago Warren had found a knitted ski hat in a thrift store and that now adorned Dick's dick.

Since Mercy was due in half an hour or so I sent Warren to set up the DVD player and TV in the upstairs TV room, perhaps Warren was right and my house really was too big for just me but in my opinion that was all the more reason for him to move in with me. Originally he had refused because he couldn't allow me to find out he was a werewolf and because he expected me to eventually end out relationship. Now I'm not sure why he insisted on maintaining his own house because there was no way on Earth I was lowing him to live away from me anytime soon, even now he was almost fully recovered. Now I knew the secret he had kept from me I was in this relationship for the long haul and if I had to beat that fact into Warren with a blunt instrument then so be it, I could nurse him back to health afterwards.

I began making brownies from scratch, my grandmother had taught both Ally and I when we were children, though I always had more of a talent for it than Ally, something my father insisted should have clued him into my sexuality a long time ago. But my grandma had always being resolute in her belief that proper brownies had to be made from scratch not from a mix, everyone who tried them seemed to agree so I always did it from scratch and this time I was making it an extra-large batch, Warren had a sweet tooth.

I was still mixing the dough when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and Warren's lips against my neck, "If you keep that up Mercy will be in for quite a show when she arrives."

Warren laughed, "Not like she's never seen me naked before."

"But there a difference between naked when injured or after changing, and naked while shagging your boyfriend." I told him firmly, he was mine and no one was seeing his naked backside unless there was no other choice.

Warren laughed but stopped kissing and nibbling on my neck, it was one of my erogenous zones and if he had kept at it for much longer I wouldn't have been able to resist pushing Warren against the counter and either having my way with him or begging him to have his way with me. Warren knew that, he knew all my weak spots just as I knew all of his.

There was a knock at the door just as I was adding the last ingredient, "Get that for me will you Warren?" I asked, "It's probably Mercy."

I felt Warren unwrap his arms from around my waist and heard him leave the room. The front door was opened and I heard Mercy's voice from the front hall and Warren's deeper voice answering her.

I heard the kitchen door open behind me and then Mercy said, "I hope those are brownies."

I turned and grinned at her, "Of course darling, what else?" Mercy walked over to me and I hardly had time to put down the spatula I was using before she hugged me.

It was good to see her so happy, this last month since Warren was injured she's been very stressed about something but when I asked her about it all she said was that Warren and I were the only good thing to come out of those few days. When I tried to press further she told me to stop, for my own good. I was worried but Warren wouldn't tell me either, he said it was her choice.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" She asked.

I hesitated a moment, Mercy is a fairly good cook but this was my grandma's secret brownies recipe, she would have killed me if I shared it with anyone. "Well the popcorn needs microwaving." I told her, waving my hand in the direction of the bags that I had left next to the microwave.

"Were you expecting other guests?" She asked when she saw the five lots of popcorn I'd bought.

"He's trying to fatten me up." Warren said from the kitchen doorway, I'd known he was there, it was like I could sense him there, feel his eyes on me.

"No." I teased, "I just know how much you eat." The truth was that I was trying to fatten him up a bit; he'd lost a lot of weight while he was injured, both by the vampire and by that stupid dominance challenge from Paul, and he could still stand to gain a few more pounds even four weeks later. "Make yourself useful and get some drinks."

I finished mixing the brownies and spread the mixture into the tray then I turned to check the oven in exactly the way my grandmother had taught me, my putting my hand inside. Warren always looked a little worried at this point but grandma Martha hadn't trusted the oven to get to exactly the temperature her brownies required and since they always came out perfectly with her method I wasn't about to change anything.

"So they should be done in about half an hour." I said setting a timer, "So the question is do we start the film now or wait?"

"We need to be up early for Tumbleweed tomorrow." Warren pointed out, "So I say we start the film now and send Kyle out for the brownies when they're ready." I sensed he had some ulterior motive for wanting me out of the room at some point, now doubt he wanted to discuss something werewolfy with Mercy. He was getting better a not keeping secrets but it was hard for him to break the habit of a very long life time. Having said that, I assumed it was something about the Pack rather than about him, he had managed to break the habit of keeping his own secrets from me but if Adam had given him an order he couldn't refuse.

"I'll go with that." I agreed. "But you can carry the popcorn." I added gesturing towards the large bowl that Mercy was adding another bag to. "It's mostly for you anyway."

"I'll get the drinks." Mercy said. That sorted we headed to the upstairs TV room, what Warren had taken to calling my home cinema. Out of habit I double checked the wires and setting, Being born before the invention of the films, let alone home cinema systems, seemed to mean that he did not have a gift for modern technology. He could work it but had being known to miss wire things on occasion.

We settled in for the movie, Warren stretched out on his back on the floor with a pillow under his head and the bowl of popcorn while Mercy and I settled on the couch. It wasn't long after I had pressed play on the remote that I ended up using her leg as a pillow and since she didn't object I didn't feel the need to move.

Bad Film Night was never to be confused with a serious film club, the whole point was to make smart assed comments and ridicule the acting, plot and anything else we didn't like. The snarky comments began almost as soon as a film did.

"He looks better after a hundred years of sleep than I do after a few hours." Mercy commented.

"That's the problem my dear," I pointed out, "It's only a few hours, you need far more beauty sleep than that."

"Are you trying to imply I'm ugly?" Mercy demanded reaching over and poking me in the ribs."

"Not at all." I defended. "But any human, even a walker such yourself, needs more than six hours a night to look her best."

"I might forgive you then." She said as she reached down and snatched a handful of popcorn from bowl on Warren's stomach, then she glance down at me before looking at Warren and then back at the screen. "A cowboy, a lawyer, and a mechanic watched Queen of the Damned." She muttered, clearly finding the idea faintly ridicules.

"It could be the beginning of either a bad joke or a horror story." Warren snickered.

I hated to disagree with him but I had to add my two cents. "No, if you want a horror story, you have to start out with a werewolf, his gorgeous lover, and a walker."

Warren laughed properly at that and shook his head. "Too confusing. Not many people still remember what a walker is."

We sat in silence for a minute or two listening to the atrocious dialogue until Lestat came on screen; bare chested and pants hanging inches below his sexy hips, and I was reminded again why I had rented this film.

"You know," Mercy said as she snuggled deeper into the couch. "I wondered why Kyle picked this movie. Somehow I didn't think there would be quite so many bare manly chests in a movie called Queen of the Damned." I think she was aiming for casual but didn't quite manage it.

Warren snickered again at that and snatched another handful of popcorn before he answered her, "You expected more naked women and fewer half-clothed men, did you, Mercy? You oughtta know Kyle better than that." He laughed again and pointed at the screen. "Hey, I didn't think vampires were immune to gravity. Have you ever seen one dangle from the ceiling?" I'm glad he was able to laugh about them after a vampire, all-be-it a demon possessed one, had nearly killed him. For some reason I don't think Mercy was as comfortable about it yet.

She shook her head and watched as Lestat dropped on top of his two groupie victims. "I wouldn't put it past them, though. I haven't seen them eat people yet either. Ick."

"Shut up. I like this movie." I decided that it was time to defend my choice before they started ridiculing it for not being accurate to real life, Warren had done the same when we watched American Werewolf in London and Dog Soldiers. Actually he did the same thing when we watched any film or TV series involving werewolves. "Lots of pretty boys writhing in sheets and running around with low-cut pants and no shirts. I thought you might enjoy it, too, Mercy." It didn't bother me that I was interrupting the introduction of a major character, we were watching the film for the pretty boys not the near non-existent plot line. "This really isn't bad enough for bad movie night, I'd have gotten Blade III, but oddly enough, it was already checked out."

"Any movie with Wesley Snipes is worth watching, "Mercy pointed out as she reached down for another handful of popcorn. "Even if you have to turn off the sound."

"As long as he's not dressed in drag," Warren drawled in his charming Texan accent

I snorted at that, it was the understatement of the millennium. "Wesley Snipes may be a beautiful man, but he makes a butt-ugly woman."

"Hey," Mercy objected. "To Wong Foo was a good movie." I wasn't sure I could actually agree with her there, the sight of Wesley Snipes in drag was engraved into my memory and would probably require therapy to remove. Robert DiNero in drag was funny, Wesley Snipes was just horror.

Then I heard a faint buzzing of the kitchen timer and rolled of the couch and onto my feet, shame the graceful move was wasted on my other half who was focused on the screen and grinning, I didn't think the plot required that much attention and I doubted the film makers intended for smiling to be the response to the on screen bloodfest. He was probably finding inaccuracies again, he did that a lot with werewolf movies.

"Brownies are done, my sweets, anyone want something more to drink?"

"No, thank you." Mercy said, I actually had to call Warren's name to get his attention. I tried not to be even a little insulted that the on screen action was worthy of more attention than I was.

He looked up at me, "Water would be nice." I nodded and headed down stairs I could feel his eyes on me the entire way and it made me forgive him for not paying immediate attention to me earlier. As soon as I was out of sight I heard Warren raise the volume on the TV, that meant I was right in my earlier guess and Warren did want to talk to Mercy about something in private.

As I took the brownies out of the oven and started cutting them into squares I tried to stop myself wondering about it but it was hard. Warren had kept a secret before, his being a werewolf, and it had nearly torn us apart. I highly doubted it was anything that serious, in fact I was certain it wasn't, but there was a small voice of worry inside me that would not be silence.

I took my time without seeming to, knowing that Warren would hear if I deliberately dawdled and he clearly didn't want me to feel excluded but I wanted to give him a chance to say what he needed to. Personally I would have being happier if he had asked me to leave the room while he talked to Mercy but he was hesitant to deliberately exclude me for fear of my reaction, it was one of the many bumps in our relationship that the past month had not smoothed out. We still had a way to go before we were in the place we both wanted to be but we were getting there.

Even over the noise of the film I heard Mercy's cell go off. I knew it was hers, neither I nor Warren would ever have "The Baby Elephant Walk" as a ringtone. As I put the baking tray in the sink and tossed the knife in after it I thought that it was taking a long time for Mercy to answer her phone, which meant she probably couldn't remember which pocket she'd put it in. Finally the annoying music cut off and I decided it was safe to go back upstairs, either Mercy was on the phone or they were arguing and would probably both be hoping I'd interrupt.

I reached the door of the TV, plate of brownies in hand, to find that my first guess had being correct, Mercy had answered the call. I hovered just out of sight so I didn't interrupt her.

"Do you know where Kyle's house is?" She asked, there was a pause. "Warren's boyfriend. We're out in West Richland." She paused for a moment again and then recited my address before hanging up.

"Who was that?" I asked walking into her line of sight.

"My old boss Zee." She explained, "He wants me to visit the reservation tonight so he's coming to get in as soon as he can."

"Ah." I said, I knew of Zee though we had never met personally. He was her old boss and the former owner of her garage. He was also a fae, not that I had any problem with that, if I did I'm certain someone would have shouted the word 'hypocrite' at me, loudly and repeatedly. "Want some brownies before you go?"

"Since they're yours." She said taking one and deliberately not look at the action on the screen, I was starting to think that Mercy actually had a serious problem with vampires and made a mental note not to rent any more vamp films no matter how much they might fill the definition of bad movie night. "What do I have to do to get the recipe out of you?" She asked after taking the first bite.

I laughed, "That recipe is only passed down through the Brooke family." I told her, "Grandma Martha told Ally and I that we could only pass it on to our children, since I'm gay and Ally isn't that good, I'm teaching hers but otherwise I'm taking it to the grave."

Mercy gave me puppy eyes but I held fast just as I always did. Warren laughed, "Give it up Mercy." He told her, "I have tried for more persuasive methods than you will ever use and the best I can do is manipulate or bribe him into making them regularly." I passed the plate to Mercy and then kissed Warren very thoroughly. When I finally let him go we were both gasping for breath, the brownie plate was far emptier and Mercy's pockets bulged suspicious.

Mercy's pockets weren't the only bulge and I was suddenly glad that she would be leaving soon since I suddenly had zero interest in watching the end of the film and the heated hungry look in Warren's eyes convinced me he felt the same.

As she waited Mercy continued to help herself to the brownies, until she had eaten or taken most of the plate, while Warren and I continued to exchange heated and lust-filled looks that Mercy was blind to, probably a deliberate choice on her part.

Fortunately for all three of us, because sexual tension between Warren and I was getting stronger and stronger, it didn't take all that long for the infamous Zee to arrive. There was the honk of a horn from outside the building and Mercy glanced only briefly out the window before she headed down stairs.

We had no sooner heard the door close that Warren and I were on each other, our hands groping each other as we fought for dominance over the kiss. We finally parted when a combination of lust and a lack of oxygen made us both dizzy, I grinned at him and he grinned back, a slow sexy grin that made my insides turn to jelly.

"Now." I said, "What was it you said about bribery?"

Warren's grin widened, "I already thanked you for tonight's brownies."

I looked over at the plate and then back at Warren, "Mercy stole most of them so I'd take it up with her, however if you want more." I let the sentence trail off.

"And how do you suggest I bribe you this time?" Warren said in a low sexually charged voice, his left hand made its way down to cup me through the light weight material of my summer pants.

I groaned and let my head rest on his shoulder, "That might be a good start." I suggested as he continued to stroke me through my trousers, I was already hard from a combinations of our kisses, the heated looks he had being giving me and the teasing in the kitchen earlier.

Warren laughed lightly in my ear and then released me, I was about to groan in disappointment until he lightly pushed me back onto the couch and knelt between my legs. "I think I can find better bribery than that." He told me as he reached for the button on my pants.

* * *

AN2: This is where I try to explain myself. Writing the reaction of Mercy's friends to the events of Iron Kissed has been very difficult for me (I even went and wrote some stuff for River Marked because I needed the break). I also got a job and lost the inclination to write int he evening (if nothing else been unemployed gives plenty of time for writing). Now I'm back to been a student so I hope to get at least two more chapters out in December.

Side note: After a random comment to a friend (and you know who you are, now please get a pen name I can actually spell!) I started writing a crossover between this and Brothers and Sisters, would anyone other than said friend (who gets it emailed to her) actually be interested in reading it?


	22. Iron Kissed Part 2

AN: I did indulge my love of celtic music a little for the Tumbleweed section of this chapter, sorry!

* * *

Iron Kissed - Part 2

We ended up missing most of the film, not that either of us were complaining, far from it. We were both stretched out completely sated with Warren laid on top of me as we watched what had to be the longest death scene in history, possibly except for Boromir in Lord of the Rings.

"So what was the film about?" Warren asked as he reached down and snagged a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the floor.

"Don't know." I said as I ran my hand down his back. "I really wasn't paying attention, besides you're the one who read the book."

Warren looked over at the screen, "Don't think it had all that much to do with the book," He frowned, "Where was Mekare?"

"Not a clue, ooh look it's the vampire equivalent of riding off into the sunset." Warren snorted, "The music's not that bad, pass me some popcorn?" I couldn't actually reach since it was on the floor next to my head and my arm didn't like bending that way.

Warren proceeded to feed me popcorn one piece at a time, there was something decidedly decadent laying there with my lover stretched out on top of me feeding me popcorn. And it was giving me images of ancient Romans and slave boys, thanks to a friend I had at collage who studied Classics I knew an awful lot about the sex lives of the Romans. Some of it was sick but some of it defiantly sent my blood rushing south when I thought about Warren and I in the starring roles.

"Enjoying yourself?" Warren asked, pressed against me as he was it was a rather redundant question. He knew I was enjoying myself.

"No more than you." I answered arching my hips off the couch so I was pressed tighter against him and could feel his erection against mine.

"I think we should take this to the bedroom." Warren suggested as he sat up, I nodded and he stood up, holding out his hand to help me up. He pulled me to my feet without any effort, a benefit of been a werewolf, and then I pulled him towards our bedroom. It had been weeks since I'd thought of it solely as my bedroom.

" "

We were both lounging on our bed when Warren suddenly looked towards the window, "Mercy." He said and rolled off the bed, pulling on his pants. I assumed he could hear a car though I couldn't. "I'm just going to go and check on her." He added as he left the room, a few moments later I heard a truck approach, it parked at the same moment I heard the front door open and close.

Less than half a minute later I heard an exclamation of; "Damn it, Mercy, that is enough!" Closely followed by; "Next time, say something." I assumed that Warren had snuck up on Mercy or surprised her; he did have an annoying tendency of doing just that.

I heard him apologise and then admit that he wanted to check up on her. I'm actually fairly certain that Adam had ordered all his wolves to keep as much of an eye on Mercy as possible, she did seem to be something of a danger magnet these days and I know that Adam really cared about her.

After Warren told her that she should be more alert, Mercy admitted that she'd been doing a little sleuthing, I assumed for the Fae. They were still been quite loud and given how well sound carried at night I was a bit concerned about the neighbours. Besides I selfishly wanted Warren back in bed with me, so I went over to the window and slid it open.

"If you two are finished playing Cowboy and Indian out there." I said in reference to the fact that they had been arguing again, it was just something I said to annoy them both. "Some of us would like to get their beauty sleep." And I didn't intend to do it without Warren beside me, quite apart from the fact that we had an early morning tomorrow because of the Tumbleweed concert

Mercy looked up at Warren. "You heard 'um, Kemo Sabe. Me go to my little wigwam and get'um shut-eye." I think any Native Americans in the area would have shot her for that one, regardless of who and what her father had been

"How come you always get to play the Indian?" Warren whined, he was totally deadpan but I decided to pretend to play along.

"Cause she's the Indian, white boy," I said as I pushed the window fully open and settled my hip on the casement, fully aware of the fact that I was only half dressed, I knew I looked good and even if I hadn't I could feel Warren's gaze on me again, hungry and possessive.

Warren's gaze felt like fire as I made eye contact with him, "She's only half, and I've known more Indians than she has." Which was probably true, according to Mercy she only really knew one and he was also a werewolf. She told me once that she'd met others over the years, particularly while she was in college and going through a phase of trying to discover her roots but it hadn't lasted and she'd never stayed in contact with them.

However an opening like that was just too good to pass up, so I grinned at Warren and, in my best Mae West voice asked him, "Just how many Indians have you known, big boy?" I put the emphasis in right place so that he could tell I meant 'known' in the biblical sense. With an opportunity like that I couldn't resist flirting with him and I could tell he was affected by it. Either that or it was simply the fact that I was still only half dressed.

"Stop right there." Mercy made a show of putting her hands over her ears clearly she too picked up on the less than subtle flirting and didn't want to hear any more, Warren however grinned up at me in a way that made me certain we weren't going to sleep anytime soon. "Lalalala. Wait until I hop in my faithful Rabbit and ride off into the sunrise." She stood on her tip toes and kissed Warren's cheek.

"It is pretty late, do you still want to meet us at Tumbleweed tomorrow?" He asked her, I hoped she wasn't going to have to cancel on us, we'd all been looking forward to this for weeks, apparently someone at the hospital had bribed, blackmailed or otherwise manipulated the good Doc Cornick into performing and, according to both Mercy and Warren, a public performance by Samuel was not something to be missed.

"I wouldn't miss it. Samuel still hasn't managed to wiggle out of performing and I have to be there to heckle him." I knew her better than to believe that she would do that, tease him later maybe, probably even, but never actually heckle him in public.

"Ten A.M. by the River Stage, then," Warren said.

"I'll be there." Mercy promised and the way she jumped in her car and sped off you'd think there was a pack of rabid werewolves on her heels. Warren looked up at me again and from his gaze I was certain that we were not sleeping anytime soon, I smirked down at him and he grinned up at me before heading for the front door. In a shorter time that I would have believed was possible he was back in our room and naked, clearly having shed his clothes on the way up.

I'd stayed perched on the window sill but I turned when he walked in. He didn't say anything just walked over, pulled me to my feet, pushed me against the wall and proceeded to kiss me senseless. "The things you do to me." Warren whispered in between heated kisses.

I could feel what I did to him and I certainly wasn't about to object. As he dragged me back to bed I was grateful that I'd already set an alarm for the morning, I had a feeling we'd be needing it, otherwise we'd never be up by ten let alone at the park.

" "

The alarm went off at a near inhuman hour of the morning, of course after how late we'd finally gone to sleep the previous night any time before noon was inhuman. Warren had slept the night through which was good, his nightmares had been getting less and less frequent but this was still the first time he had gone more than five days without one. Though given how short our night had been maybe it shouldn't count.

I rolled over and turned the alarm off then I turned back and poked Warren in the ribs, "Come on baby, wake up." The only response I got was a low whine, I sound I knew meant he was awake and didn't want to be. "If you get up now I'll make you breakfast." Bribery is always a good solution, especially with werewolves.

Finally Warren rolled over and looked up at me, "Fry up?" A grown man should not be able to do puppy dog eyes so well but maybe it's the wolf in him.

I sighed, "Alright." I agreed and threw off the covers causing Warren to wolf whistle, I smirked over at him and pulled on the jeans I'd worn the previous day, "Get in the shower." I shouted back as I headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

It is truly amazing how fast people can shower when they have the right encouragement, I managed to set the coffee going but I'd hardly started on the frying when I felt Warren wrap his arms around my waist and kiss the side of my neck. "Morning."

"You're awake then?" I asked, cracking an egg on the side of the pan.

"A cold shower will do that." That explained the cold drops of water rolling off this still damp hair and down my bare back, it also explained why he'd been so quick since not even Warren could stand under an ice cold shower for long. "Why don't you go get your shower and I'll finish up here?"

I twisted my neck so that I could kiss his lips and then slipped out from his arms, leaving him to handle the cooking. He wasn't the best chief in the world, he certainly wouldn't be cooking any meal if we had guests, but he had taken care of himself for over a century and that included cooking, I could trust him not to burn the house down.

I showered quickly, and at a temperature above freezing, and then dressed in jeans and a shirt, my hair was still damp as jogged back down stairs to find Warren setting two plates on the breakfast bar in the kitchen, I grabbed two glasses and the orange juice from the fridge and we sat down to eat.

Despite everything we were still at the park early. We parked in the lot at the south end of the park and as we got out of my jag I looked around realising that it had been almost a year since I had last been to the park. It had been in this very park last November that Mercy had told me what Warren could not.

Warren must have noticed my moment of reflection because he walked around the car so he was standing next to me. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head, "I'm fine I told him, just memories, we should get to the stage if we want good seats."

He didn't argue but as soon as we started walking he asked me, "So what were the memories of? You looked happy and sad at the same time."

"This is where Mercy brought me the night that she told me about you." Warren took my hand and held it as we walked, he wasn't usually so demonstrative in public but I'd noticed that had been changing since we got back together and I certainly wasn't about to object. "I suggested we talk in the car because it was so cold but she wanted to walk so I leant her my coat and we walked by the river." I paused for a moment before continuing. "She asked me how much I loved you. I told her that I love you so much, that you meant more to me than any other man ever had." He squeezed my hand and I glanced to the side to see a small sad smile on his face.

"Then what happened?" Warren asked in a quiet voice, I wondered that Mercy had never told him all of this but maybe he hadn't been able to bear to asked. Or maybe he just wanted to hear it from me.

"I asked if you were involved with drugs or if you were a fae. It was the only two things that made sense to me but she told me that wasn't it. Then she just came out with it, no real preamble or build up. She just said; 'Warren's a werewolf.' If I hadn't already been sitting down I think I would have collapsed with the shock. I hate to say it but Hollywood monsters were the first thing that came to mind."

"I wish I could have been the one to tell you."

"I know but I understand now why you couldn't." I smiled, "Another few months and you could have told me if you wanted to, right?"

"Yes and I would have told you the moment the news broke." Warren agreed, "But I don't think we would have lasted until the New Year, not when I couldn't explain about Adam or Samuel. And especially when I couldn't tell you where I disappeared off."

"Rescuing Jesse?" I asked, I was fairly certain that I was right. He nodded and I sighed. "You're right." I told him, "That night was just about the final straw, if Mercy hadn't told me something then I doubt we would have made it to Christmas."

"I thought I was losing you." He admitted, "Even when Mercy told me that you planned to talk to me later, I was worried it was only to ask for your stuff back. I was terrified that Adam or Samuel would have you or Mercy executed."

"They wouldn't do that." I said, we'd reached the stage where Samuel was going to be performing. Samuel was just walking onto the stage carrying his guitar case and nodded to us when he saw us.

"Not unless you did something stupid." Warren agreed, "But I wasn't exactly thinking straight, I was scared I was losing the first man I'd ever found who I could see being my mate."

I sat down on the still slightly dew damp grass and pulled Warren down next to me, kissing him once he was on the ground. "You're not losing me anytime soon."

Before either of us could say anything else or kiss again one of the button men swooped in on us. I knew from past experience that is was easier to just buy one of the two dollar buttons now, at the start of the event, and get it over with. The button men were relentless. Sometimes I wondered why they didn't just have a stand set up by all of the entrances to the park, it would have been easier.

Warren pocketed the extra button we got for Mercy while pinned mine to my shirt, sometimes I would put it in a less visible place and see how many sellers I could attract but I wasn't in the mood this year, I'd prefer to be able to spend the afternoon with Warren without constantly been harassed.

"So what did Adam say when he found out that Mercy had told me?" I asked once we were relatively alone.

"He was pleased." Warren admitted with a small smile, "He would have given me permission to tell you if he wasn't also bound by the rules. Mercy wasn't bound by those rules and he was just about to forbid her to tell you when she stormed out. Adam knows that telling Mercy not to do something is as good as daring her to do it and she never backs down from a dare. Bran learnt that the hard way."

"What happened?"

"He told her she couldn't take his Porsche." Warren told me, "So naturally she did and ended up crashing it, rather spectacularly according to Samuel. They thought she'd managed to kill herself but she proved to be as hard to kill as a coyote since she didn't have more than bruises and a few scratches."

"What did Bran do?" I ask, the head of the werewolves didn't strike me as the type to take having his car written off lightly.

"He made her learn how to drive and repair cars for her entire summer vacation, with Charles as a teacher."

I remembered Charles Cornick as being a very intense man and not someone I would particularly want to spend the entire afternoon with, let alone all summer. He certainly wasn't as easy going as his brother or wife. "Poor her, but that must have come in handy when she was needed a job with Zee."

"No doubt." Warren said. I glanced around the field which was slowly filling up. There was a large group close to the stage setting up chairs and blankets while chattering excitedly. I guessed they were all from the hospital, eager to see Doctor Cornick perform.

Scattered around the edge of the field were quite a lot of faces I recognised though I couldn't put names to more than a few. Honey and her husband Peter were quite close to the stage, I recognised Paul amongst a group of four others who I also recognised as werewolves. Quite a few had women with them and sometimes children, I realised that the women must be the wolves' human wives.

"Looks like most of the pack are going to be here." I commented in a low voice.

"Most wolves would do a lot for the chance to see any of the Cornicks perform." Warren told me. "Ah, Mercy's here." I looked up to see her limping towards us, she wasn't that far away but as she sat down next to me I noticed that her limp seemed quite bad and I wondered exactly what trouble she was in this time.

"Something wrong? You weren't limping last night." I was starting to think that she really was a magnet for trouble.

She shifted on the grass until she was comfortable as she answered me. "Nothing important. Someone caught me a good one on my thigh at karate practice this morning. It'll settle down in a bit." I shook my head; she managed to get into enough trouble without her hobbies adding to her injury count. "I see the button men found you already." She added noticing the button on my shirt.

"We got one for you, too." Warren said as he reached across me to hand it to her. She fastened it on her shoe with a grin.

"I bet I can attract four button men before lunch."

I laughed, "Do I look like a newbie? Four before lunch is too easy." I'd once managed seven and a date, but that was years ago before I met Warren.

Looking around I noticed that the field was filling up, apparently it was more than just the werewolves and hospital personnel that were eager to hear Samuel sing. I spotted Jesse with a group of other teenagers, her short cotton candy blue hair would make her stand out in most crowds.

Before I could get her attention one of the festival volunteers walked onto the stage. He spent a few minutes thanking and welcoming us as well as detailing the sponsors and raffles that were going on. Like most of the audience, judging by the restless shuffling, I wanted him to shut up and introduce Samuel.

When he did, as the Tri-Cities' own folksinging physician, I somehow managed to resist laughing as I joined in the applause. Samuel walked to the stage dressed in black jeans and a cobalt blue shirt, and looked good enough to eat. All the werewolves were good looking, it pretty much seemed to be a rule but the most dominant ones seemed to have something more, something that pulled you attention to them. Still I preferred Warren to either Samuel or Adam, even if they had been that way inclined. I did not envy Mercy for been caught between the two of them.

Samuel was carrying a violin carelessly in one hand, his harp and guitar were waiting on their stands nearby. He grinned as he spotted Mercy in the audience, at least I assume it was her he was so pleased to see since I doubt it was Warren or I. Or Adam, which was who I guessed was sitting behind us from the sudden cold look in Samuel's eyes. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed that I was right, Adam was sitting directly behind Mercy.

Turning his attention back to his performance, for which I was grateful, Samuel ran his bow across the strings of the violin, testing the temperament I think the professionals call it. From what Warren had said Samuel certainly had enough practice to be considered a professional. No one knew exactly how old the Marrok or his oldest son were but both had already been werewolves for a long time when Charles was born two hundred years ago.

He played a few measures but when he really started the song everyone couldn't help but pay attention to him. There was absolute silence as he started playing 'Over the Sea to Skye', at least that was what I thought the song was. I was more used to hearing folk songs with the lyrics but Samuel chose to stick to the instrumental version, it was still beautiful.

As he played the last few notes softly, he began singing 'Barbara Allen'. He sang the remained of the first verse unaccompanied then brought the violin in for the start of the chorus. By the second chorus most of the audience had joined in, including the four of us. Unlike most of the audience we weren't hesitant and while we certainly weren't about to be given a recording contract anytime soon but that wasn't the point.

The impromptu addition of one of the professional groups who happened to be passing by encouraged the rest of the audience to join in and Samuel graciously allowed them to finish the final verse and then thanked them as his guest performers. I made a mental note that they might be worth catching later.

He switched to his guitar and I identified the song as soon as he started singing, Scarborough Fair was not one of my favourite Simon and Garfunkel songs but he sang it so beautifully that he managed to change my mind about it.

"Remember me to one who lives there; she once was a true love of mine." He put such heart and emotion into those lines that I wondered who the woman was that he was singing about. Because I was sure that he was thinking of someone as he sang and equally sure that, despite their history, it wasn't Mercy.

I was still thinking of that as he let the last notes die away and nearly jumped at the sudden change of pace when he launched into a song about pirates that my nephew would have loved. While he sang I wondered if killing that idiot on the Jet Ski would be considered justifiable homicide.

Setting aside his guitar Samuel picked up a wide flat drum and the double ended stick used to play it. A bodhran unless I was mistaken, a traditional Celtic drum which had never had the chance to hear played live, just on CD. His looked old, most of the audience would assume it was a family heirloom or an antique but I was prepared to bet that he had brought it new, centuries ago. He played a sea shanty and I was surprised to realise that I knew it. 'The Bonnie Ship the Diamond.' I was never sure if it was an Irish or Scottish, though the port mentioned in the song was in Scotland, I'd checked one very bored night. It could be a very lively and energetic song if played in a certain way, which Samuel certainly was doing. It was also really depressing if you considered that the Diamond was lost with all hands just a few years after the song was written, along with several other ships mentioned in the song, so I made certain not to think of that and settled against Warren to enjoy Samuel's performance.

Some people sat down in front of us and forced Mercy to move back slightly so that she was sitting against Adam's legs. "I'm glad you talked him into playing," Adam said in a low voice. "He's really in his element in front of a crowd, isn't he?"

"I didn't talk him into it," Mercy insisted. "It was one of the nurses he works with."

"I once heard the Marrok and both of his sons, Samuel and Charles, sing together," Warren said so softly that I doubted I would have heard him if he wasn't sitting right next to me, though I'm certain that Mercy and Adam heard him just fine. "It was." He trailed off unable to find the words to describe the experience. I would have to agree with him, if Charles and Bran were half as good as Samuel then all three together would be amazing to hear.

"I've heard them," Adam said. "It's not something you forget."

While they were talking Samuel had finished the song and set aside his bodhran to pick up his Welsh harp, he played a few notes to fill the silence while the techs adjusted the equipment to the softer tones of the harp.

As his eyes scanned the crowed, he stopped when his gaze rested on Mercy and Adam, at the same time Adam placed a possessive hand on Mercy's shoulder and I repressed a sigh. Werewolf dominance games, again.

"Stop that." Mercy snapped at Adam.

I decided to intervene before Marcy or Adam caused a scene, and it might avoid problems with Samuel later. Most people would probably be hesitant about annoying an Alpha wolf, but I knew that Adam wouldn't see me as a threat to his dominance or, more importantly, his claim to Mercy. So I reached over and pulled her into a hug, knocking Adam's hand away in the process. He snarled quietly at me and I felt Warren tense slightly beside me but he relaxed when Adam moved a few inches back.

Samuel seemed to calm slightly and if he was a little stiff as he introduced his finally piece it wasn't overly noticeable to anyone who didn't know him. Freed from her place between Adam and Samuel, Mercy too relaxed against me as we listened to Samuel. I assumed he was singing in Welsh, it was certainly a Celtic language but my ear wasn't good enough to tell the difference between Welsh, Irish and Scots Gaelic.

His voice combined with the harp in the final song was worth the standing ovation on its own. Everyone in the field was on their feet, applauding and cheering. Samuel looked almost embarrassed as he bowed, it looked kind of cute especially knowing how old he was.

* * *

AN: The comment about Roman sex lives is in honour of a friend of mine. Since she decided I just had to hear the best parts of a certain book I haven't been able to look at anything Roman in quite the same way. Thanks for that!

As always please review, and there should be another chapter out on Christmas Day


	23. Iron Kissed Part 3

AN: Terribly sorry this is so late, I know I promised it on Christmas day but things got in the way and my internet is rather lacking at the moment as I don't have it at home. So for you all, and so you get this before the New Year, I braved the Sale's crowds and ventured into town, fortunately I remembered the Caffe Nero coffee shops all have free WiFi, so it's tea and fanfic for me this evening!

* * *

Iron Kissed - Part Three

While Samuel began to gather his instruments Mercy took the chance to slip away, I glanced after her and she held up her cell, indicating that she was going to call someone. I nodded and then Warren caught my hand and was pulling me towards the stage.

"So what did you think?" Warren asked.

"It made getting out of bed this morning worth the effort." I told him with a grin.

"Defiantly." Warren agreed, "I told you Samuel was good."

"I didn't doubt it." I assured him, "And his father and brother sing too?"

"Yes." Adam said as he came up beside us, "though most people wouldn't initially believe it about either of them, especially Charles. I hear his mate sings too."

"Anna?" I assumed that was who Adam was talking about, I didn't know if Bran had a mate and it was probably one of those things I shouldn't press about.

"Yes." It was Samuel who answered since by that time we had reached the side of the stage where he was packing his instruments into their cases and stacking them. "She plays cello and piano too, though I'm not sure how well since I haven't had the chance to hear her play yet but reportedly her piano skills are sufficient that she wasn't booed off stage in Bubba's."

From the looks on their faces that meant something to Warren and Adam but it certainly didn't to me so I ignored it and filed it in the mental 'Ask Warren Later' folder. "That was a very good performance." I told Samuel. "I liked your rendition of 'Bonnie Ship the Diamond', I've never heard a bodhran played live before. Where did you learn?"

"Wales." Samuel said, "Before I moved out here."

"You're a man of many talents doctor." I told him with a grin. "Medicine, music, annoying the hell out of people."

Samuel laughed at that, "If you want annoying you should try Mercy, she can infuriate even the calmest of us."

"Without any help of course." Warren said with a grin.

"Not recently." Samuel said which in my mind was as good as admitting that when she was younger he had helped her get into trouble.

"Excuse me." All of us looked round to see a young man in a tie-dye tee shirt. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Samuel nodded and the young man launched into his speech. Rather than hanging around to listen, Warren pulled me towards where Adam was standing with a few of his other wolves, they weren't discussing anything important, they couldn't do since only Adam was officially out.

Instead we started discussing the other acts that were on during the Tumbleweed festival, occasionally I'd glance back at Samuel and the young man who was still talking at Samuel who had an expression very similar to the one that usually adorned my brother-in-law's face when one of his children insisted on telling him about what he had been doing during the day, in great detail. Indulging and polity interested but if you looked harder you knew that there was a long list of places he'd rather be.

From the sounds of the young man was currently lecturing Samuel on his pronunciation, to me both words sounded the same but apparently there was a difference. When the young man knew the correct pronunciation of the One Ring inscription, I knew that there was only one word to describe him: Geek.

And not in the same teasing way I used it to some of my old college friends. With them it was almost affectionate, they might know all the Star Wars films word perfect, or have seen every episode of Star Trek, but they didn't cram it down your throat like this guy seemed to want to. He was the kind that gave geeks a bad reputation.

"You understood what he said?" Adam asked, apparently I was in the minority who could at least recognise the phrase. A quick glance at Warren's grin showed that he too recognised the phrase, though that wasn't surprising, Warren's book collection was as large as it was varied.

"Oh, please." The young man said. "It was the inscription on the One Ring, you know, One Ring to Rule Them All, everyone knows that much." That might be a slight exaggeration, a lot of people would know the English but saying that everyone knew the elvish version seemed to be rather insulting to ninety-nine percent of the population who didn't.

"Very good." Samuel said with a grin. "I don't speak any more Elvish than that, but I couldn't resist playing with you a little. An old Welshman taught me the song." A very old Welshman I suspect, like his father for example. And when it came to a debate on pronunciation I would put my money on Samuel's version every time. "I'm Samuel Cornick, by the way. You are?"

"Tim Milanovich."

"Very good to meet you, Tim. Are you performing later?" I wondered if Samuel was planning on going along to anything this Tim was going to do so he could criticise the younger man's performance.

"I'm doing a workshop with a friend." He smiled shyly. "You might like to attend it: Celtic folk music. Two o'clock Sunday in the Community Center. You play very well, but if you want to make it in the music business, you need to organize your songs better, get a theme, like Celtic folk songs. Come to my class, and I'll give you a few ideas."

I seriously doubted that would be happening but at least Samuel was polite enough not to say it to Tim's face. "I'll try to catch it. Thank you." They shook hands and as soon as he was out of ear short Samuel turned to look at someone, I followed his gaze and spotted Mercy. She had been standing just out of my line of sight when I'd been watching Samuel and Tim. "What's wrong, Mercy?"

I knew Mercy well enough to know that there was something seriously wrong. Most people wouldn't have been able to spot it, she was hiding her feels pretty well but I knew her enough to spot the slight tightening around her eyes that indicated she upset.

"It's Zee." She said, Warren moved to put his arm around her before Adam or Samuel could get into another battle over who got to offer her comfort or support. When it came to Mercy it seemed Warren and I were acceptable to both of the males, possibly because we were already in a relationship but more likely because, been gay, we wouldn't have been interested in Mercy even if we were single. "He's been arrested for murder."

"Murder?" Adam asked, Mercy nodded.

"Is this related to what Zee wanted to see you about last night?" Warren asked.

"Yes." She told us, "There have been some murders out on the Reservation, Zee asked if I could use my nose to see if I could identify the killer. I found one scent at all of the crime scenes, a human. Zee and Uncle Mike went to talk to him, but he was already dead. The police arrive and arrested Zee."

"What about Uncle Mike?" Adam asked

"He could hide himself, he's the one who called me." Mercy said, "He's beating himself up over this, but the fae can't do anything to defend Zee or it'll turn into a blood bath, especially after the summer we had. If we can't prove he's innocent or if this goes national the Gray Lords will deal with it and they are more interested in expediency than truth. He's going to die."

"Calm down Mercy." Adam said

She did but only slightly then turned her attention to me. "You know a good criminal defence lawyer don't you? You found that family lawyer for Adam. Money's not a problem, Uncle Mike promised to cover the cost but I need to do the hiring, he can't be seen to come to oppose the Gray Lords. He said he'd pay me back."

"Relax Mercy, you know I'll help you." I promised, "I have someone in mind, let me make a few calls and then I'll be right back." I nodded to Warren to stay with her and headed towards a quieter area of the park, which was easier said than done. I was not looking forward to having to call Jean Ryan. On a professional level she was brilliant, as dangerous in the criminal courts as I was in the divorce courts. My problem with her was personal. She was a fae-hater and I was certain that had now been extended to werewolves, which meant I was less than eager to have to deal with her again.

However I also knew that she was a professional and so she wouldn't allow her personal beliefs to impact her work, though it would probably inflate her price. That was why I went into divorce rather than criminal law, I wouldn't be put in a position where I had to compromise my beliefs. I might have to work with people who had done things I didn't like, such as cheating on their spouse but I would never be required to defend a murder, innocent or not.

" "

Jean agreed to take the case, she wasn't overly happy about it since defending a fae went against her beliefs but I was counting on that. When she asked about some of the details I waved Mercy over. After we both assured her than Zee wasn't speaking to the police she demanded a meeting with Mercy and I, since we all knew that time was of the essence she agreed to drive straight from her home in Spokane, and would meet us at my office at by three o'clock. She claimed to want to hear the story from Mercy first so she would know what to expect at the police station I couldn't blame her for that, I didn't like walking into a meeting blind either.

Adam and Samuel both offered to come with Mercy to meet Jean, something that even I knew would be a bad idea. Two competing over protecting dominant werewolves in the same room as a fae hating lawyer. Even I could see that would be a bad idea. I diplomatically suggested that it might be better for us to keep the numbers limited and then pointed out that we had redecorated the conference room recently and I did not want to have to repaint again to cover up the blood stains. Fortunately both wolves laughed and agreed that Mercy was go with me, since I was going anyway.

Warren would join us for lunch but then he planned to leave since I told him, undercover of the speedboat shooting past again, exactly what Jean's opinions were. As it nearly late enough for lunch, Warren and I took Mercy out to lunch at restaurant closer to my office then the park since all the ones near there would be full of Tumbleweed goers.

Over lunch Warren and I provided much of the conversation, Mercy was very distracted and probably wouldn't have noticed if Warren transformed and started dancing on the table, she certainly didn't actually eat much. Warren finished hers instead.

When we had drawn out lunch as long as possible, and were getting a few glares from the wait-staff, we left. I added a large enough tip to the bill that we would still be welcome there in the future. Glancing at my watched showed that it was still too early to head to the office by at least an hour.

Warren saw my dilemma and nodded in the direction of a nearby coffee shop, I nodded and steered Mercy in the direction. The place seemed quite quiet for a Saturday but may be it got busier in the late afternoon and evening or it was one of these places that existed because of the local offices and thus saw more traffic on a weekday than a weekend. I had called in occasionally when I was running a little late for something and needed and urgent caffeine fix, my boyfriend however seemed to be something of a regular.

"Hello Warren." Greeted a young Hispanic woman behind the counter as we walked in. "Don't often see you in here at the weekend."

"Good day Teresa." Warren said, his accept a little more pronounced that usual which made the young lady smile. "Got a work meeting, or at least these two, but we're a little early and thought we'd get some coffee and a place to sit."

"Well you know we're always happy to see you in here, and that table you like is free at the moment." She said with a smile. I had to smile as well; my Warren had a way with women that plenty of straight men would kill for. "Would you like your usual?"

"Please." Warren said with another smile and then turned to where Mercy and I were still standing behind him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I'll have a cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso." I ordered.

"Just a latte for me." Mercy had been observing the whole thing with some amusement, which was more attention than she'd paid to anything else for the last couple of hours.

"Coming right up." Teresa grinned again at Warren before turning to the coffee machine behind her. "So he is the one you pick up coffee for?"

"This is where my coffee comes from?" Sometimes Warren arrived with coffee when he came to office to see me, or when he came to remind me that I actually had a home and boyfriend waiting for me.

"Yes." Warren said looking between us. "To both of you."

"He's pretty." Teresa said with a light flush to her cheeks. "Tammy is going to be so jealous." She said as she continued to make our drinks. "She's certain that she can get you to go out with her if she bats her eyelashes at you enough. I'm not sure she believes you're gay, she said you look like a cowboy and they're all manly men."

"Obviously she's never seen Brokeback Mountain." I said drolly causing Mercy, Warren and Teresa to laugh.

"I'll suggest she watch it." Teresa said as she set our drink on a tray. "Here you go." Warren handed her a couple of notes to cover it and told her to keep the change then he picked up the tray and led us towards a small table against the back wall. I pushed Mercy into the chair opposite the one Warren settled himself in and then pulled up another one for myself.

We talked for a while, again with Warren and I carrying most of the conversation, this time though the topic was clueless women who'd asked us out and demented ones who'd kept perusing us. Most of mine were women my mother had tried to force on me, but there had been one or two in college who could probably best, and most kindly, be described at the stereotypical dyed-blond bimbos.

Unsurprisingly Warren's list was longer than mine, though he hadn't started telling women the real reason he wasn't interested in them until the seventies. "After all it wouldn't have been good for a spurned lover to turn me into the police, not that I'd have got jail time but I would have got a visit from the Marrok's enforcer."

I shuddered at the idea of Charles Cornick tracking down Warren, I knew what he did for his father and I did not like the idea of anyone hurting Warren let alone killing him. Mercy shuddered too and clutched her mug tighter in her hands.

Warren reached over and squeezed my hand. "The Marrok would never order me killed for my sexuality, only my stupidity in ending up in jail." To me those two would have been the same thing in that context but I didn't argue, Warren looked up to and respected the Marrok and I knew he was important to Mercy as well. I wouldn't push on something that wouldn't affect us anymore.

"I'm just glad it never happened." I told him with a weak smile. "So was there any young girl by home when you were younger?"

"Yes." Warren seemed happy the topic had shifted away from werewolf laws and back to the original subject. "There was this one girl her name was." He had a pause for a few moments as he tried to remember. "Oh Elizabeth I think, but she chased after me for months, convinced that she could be the one to finally capture me. Eventually she gave up and moved on to my cousin; given how pretty she was he didn't seem to mind been second choice and they ended up marrying."

I laughed and looked at my watch then sighed. "We need to be going." I said then looked over at Warren. "What are you going to do? We might be a while." I warned.

"I'll wait for you here Kyle." He told me. "I'll walk back to the car with you, I have a book in the trunk, and then come back here." We gathered out things and headed out.

On the way Warren stopped at the counter for a quick word with Teresa. "These two have a meeting to get to but I'll be back in a few minutes, can you save my table for me and make me another coffee too please?" He asked with a friendly grin.

"Of course." She told him.

"How well do you know Teresa anyway?" I asked as we walked back to the car.

"You sound jealous." Mercy pointed out.

"She lives alone, doesn't have boyfriend at the moment and is working to put herself through a community college course." He smiled at me. "We chat if it's quite when I come in."

Mercy and I looked at each other and smiled but by then we were back at the car. I opened the trunk and Warren didn't just have one book in there, he had five. "You like to work late." He told me as he picked up one; he noticed where the bookmark was and picked another one as well. "I'll see you later; call me when you're done." He gave me a quick kiss and then headed back towards the coffee shop.

Before Mercy could get in the car I turned her so that she was looking directly at me. "Mercy, whatever happens I need you to trust me, alright? No matter what."

"Is it going to involve that lavender cowboy outfit?"

I laughed. "Not this time." I assured her. "But I need you to trust me, she's an absolute pain in the neck and she is going to cost you a fortune, especially since he's fae, but she is good and she will defend Zee to the absolute best of her abilities. And she's as sharp in the criminal courts as I am in the divorce."

"I trust you Kyle." Mercy assured me. "And thank you for doing this, I know it's not what you had planned for your afternoon."

"I owe you Mercy." I told her as we got in the car. "I owe you for calling me when Warren was injured, for killing the thing that hurt him and for killing the one who started it all. This only begins to repay that debt." I told her as I started the car, Mercy didn't say anything as I drove us to my offices but she did smile.

" "

The meeting with Jean Ryan was, in a word, stressful. Probably for everyone concerned but I wasn't as bothered about Jean as I was about myself or Mercy. Possibly the only thing that would have made it worse would have been if Warren had been there, or worse Adam since he was out as a werewolf and Jean never made any secret of her dislike for all preternatural. A list that now included Mercy, though confidentiality would prevent her from ever revealing that.

Mercy didn't particularly like the idea of telling Jean everything but there really wasn't much choice in this, if Jean didn't know exactly what was going on then she would be handicapped in defending Zee and that could be disastrous. She was even less happy at the prospect of telling Jean what she was but I knew that she needed to and while I might not like Jean's opinions particularly I did like her style when it came to dealing with people, she was a good lawyer just seriously handicapped by her prejudices.

That said I did understand Mercy's point of view, very few people knew what she was, I suspected that apart from her family and Jesse I was one of the very few humans, maybe even the only one, who knew.

Mercy decided that show was so much more effective than tell, well it certainly had been with me, and calmly stripped off in the middle of the conference room. Jean took that in her stride, however the second she changed Jean jumped out of her chair and started backing away towards the door, I suspected that the only thing that stopped her running was a combination of fear and pride.

"Werewolf?"

I almost laughed at that, but it probably wouldn't have gone over very well with Jean, she really couldn't tell the difference between a coyote and a werewolf which was slightly worrying in all honesty because there was a very large difference, about 200 pounds of difference. I sprung out of my seat to stop her running for the door if her fear overwhelmed her pride.

I took a firm grip on her arm. "If she were a werewolf, you'd be in trouble." I warned her. "Never run from a predator. Even the best behaved of them will have a hard time restraining themselves from chasing after prey." Though that could be kinda fun when it was just Warren and I but this really wasn't the time to get into that. It was faintly surreal to be on the teaching side of the equation when it came to werewolves; usually I was the one learning.

Mercy sat down like a well-trained dog and yawned, showing off her sharp looking teeth. Jean took another half step back and I shot Mercy a look telling her to quit scaring the woman who's help she needed.

Then I turned my attention back to Jean. "She's not a werewolf; they're a lot bigger and scarier, trust me." The only wolf I had really seen was Warren and I hadn't been really scared of him, after all he was still Warren, but I could see how other people could be. I continued my explanation to Jean in a calming tone. "She's not fae either. She's something a little different, native to our land, not imported like the fae or werewolves. The only thing she can do is shift to coyote and back." The fact that she could also, from what Warren had told me, see ghosts and kill vampires most certainly did not need mentioning.

My explanation allowed Jean time to regain at least the appearance of calm and by the time Mercy had changed back and dressed Jean had resumed her seat, though this time she sat next to me rather than Mercy. If she knew who and what I was dating she'd probably be sat down the opposite end of the table.

Jean continued the interview though, a lot less calmly than she had been before Mercy changed. She was even less calm about the fae idea of justice, it was the same as the werewolves', a sound beating for minor offences and death for more serious crimes. It might rake at the human sense of justice, particularly for a lawyer, but it was also a practical fact. Holding a fae or wolf would be difficult boarding on impossible and they tended, especially the fae from what I'd heard, to be vengeful. If humans could seek revenge against the people who imprisoned them then surely a fae would be even worse. But I got the impression that Jean wouldn't see it that way, especially when it was applied to humans.

Of course no assurance from Mercy about Zee's truthfulness was going to convince Jean of that fact that he was innocent, she was very set in her options of the fae. Though she did have a point about the legal issues that were hitting werewolves, I had heard chapter and verse on the subject of werewolf legal issues from Warren, they often dissolved into a colourful description of the idiots in charge of the country. And at least there were plenty of werewolves and the Marrok backing them up. If it came out about what Mercy was then it would be disastrous for her personally, though I doubted that Adam's pack or even the Marrok himself would abandon her.

Jean did not look impressed when I told her that her hatred of the fae was the reason I had called her but she also knew I was right, she could say all she wanted but the press would believe that she believed that Zee was innocent and that would lead to everyone thinking Zee was innocent.

When Mercy promised to stay away from the crime scene I nearly laughed, I didn't have to have a werewolf's senses to know that was a lie. Mercy would never stand by and allow someone else to defend a dear friend, especially if that someone hated said friend on principle.

When Jean was done with the interview, and had a check firmly tucked in her pocket I waved Mercy towards the door, promising to meet her outside in a few minutes.

As the door closed Jean turned to me. "What's your connection to all this Kyle?"

"I'm not a fae if that's what you're asking. I'm human and just helping out a friend."

She looked me up and down, her lawyer trained senses telling her that there was more to it than that but there was no way in hell I was telling her about Warren. "Be very careful Kyle, being involved in this sort of thing could kill you career."

"I remember a professor at college saying the same thing about my sexuality and it's only ever been an asset." I told her.

Jean sighed, "Just be careful Kyle, I'd hate to see you get hurt because of this."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you were better trained than that Jean; that almost sounded like a threat."

"I have never been a part of any criminal activities." And been a lawyer she would know exactly how far she could go, should she need to, to get her own way and still stay on the right side of the law. Just. "Don't get in too deep Kyle." She told me as she opened the door.

When it closed behind her I let out a breath I hadn't realise I was holding. "Too late, I already am." And I couldn't be happier.

* * *

AN: Please Read and Review; next Chapter is going to be in the New Year.

Also I have a new fic: A crossover between this and Brothers and Sisters, please pop over to the crossover category and check it out, you don't need any knowledge of B&S to enjoy the fic (at least I don't think so)


	24. Iron Kissed Part 4

Iron Kissed - Part Four

Things were quite for Warren and I after that but not for the rest of the pack or Mercy. Jean contacted me with the information that Zee wasn't cooperating, with her or the Police. I think she was either gloating or trying to make a point about fae but I wasn't completely sure. I didn't mind what her reasoning was, she was still defending Zee because she was been paid to do so, even if he wasn't trying to defend himself.

I'd no sooner got off the phone with her than Warren was hit by Adam's rage through the pack bonds. I wasn't sure what to do, when he'd told me about werewolves and the pack he hadn't told me what to do if sometime like this happened. I was unable to stop myself and wrapped my arm around his shoulders.

He didn't object and in fact reached up to take my hand and hold my arm around him. We sat like that for almost fifteen minutes before Warren finally relaxed. "I've never known Adam to be angry like that." He pulled out his cell. "I need to call in." He told me.

I nodded. "I'll make some coffee, unless you want something else?"

"Hot chocolate, if we have any in." Warren suggested. I nodded, realising that perhaps further stimulants weren't what Warren needed at that exact moment. Since I was making hot chocolate for Warren I decided to have the same. When I returned with our drinks Warren had finished his call was sitting on the couch with his head resting in his hands.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him as I sat down and set our drinks on the coffee table.

"Jesse's been beaten up." Warren told me. "She's safe, young Gabriel came along and saved her. She'd got a few scrapes and bruises, according to Darryl, but Mercy is there and helping to take care of her."

"Why was Mercy there?"

Warren shook his head. "Ben called her when they realised Jesse had been hurt, Adam came very close to losing control of his wolf."

"And if that had happened?" I wasn't sure I wanted an answer to that but I felt I needed one.

"He would possibly have changed forms and more than likely someone would have died." Warren shook his head. "Anger like that, especially from the alpha, could infect all the pack and send us all into a killing rage. Darryl and I did what we could to keep it from the others, we always do our best to hold the pack together and hopefully soon Mercy will make her decision on bee Adam's mate and things can settle down." He sighed. "We can't keep doing this."

He sounded so tired and I pulled him into a hug. "Warren darling you're so tense." I could almost count the knots in the muscles of his back; no doubt they were the physical result of the stress he'd just been under. "Come sit in front of me and I'll give you a massage."

After giving me a soft smile Warren did as he was told and sat in the floor in front of me sipping at his hot chocolate as I rubbed his shoulders and neck. "You're good at this." Warren told me with a happy sigh. "Something else you learnt in college?"

"No." I laughed. "At least not really, I learnt it from an ex of mine, we met while I was on an internship in LA. We had fun, taught each other a few tricks and then parted as friends when my internship was over."

"Now I get to enjoy your tricks." I could hear Warren grinning even if I couldn't see his face.

"Only fair." I was also grinning. "After all I get to enjoy all the skills you've picked up over the years."

"Mmm." He sounded like he sort of agreed but couldn't be bothered to argue with me. He also sounded relaxed and that made me happy.

"Alright." I told him, poking his shoulder. "Enough of that, I want my hot chocolate too." Warren groaned but shifted back to couch beside me, handing me my mug as he did so. I picked up the TV remote and we started making a dent in some of the programs that we'd recorded over the last couple of weeks. We were both terrible at doing that; recoding a program and then forgetting to watch it until we started to run out of memory. That was the situation we were currently in, so we planned to spend most of our weekend catching up and then freeing up memory so we could record more programs we'd forget to watch.

" "

Warren had spent the day doing surveillance work for me again and for once I'd beaten him home. Which meant I was cooking when he came in and he wrapped his arms around my waist. "That smells good." He told me as he kissed my cheek.

"Me or the dinner?" I asked with a grin.

"Both." Warren laughed. "But mostly the dinner, I'm starving."

"So what's new there?" He asked as I stirred the pasta sauce. "It'll be about ten minutes." I told him as I turned up the heat, I'd been cooking on a lower heat then the recipe call for so that it hopefully wouldn't be ready until he was home, it wasn't a fool proof system but it worked this time.

Warren kissed the side of my neck and I realised that with the mood he was in it would be a good thing dinner would be ready soon or we'd be eating it re-heated. Or ordering takeaway because it had burnt, that had happened a time or two.

Suddenly I felt Warren stiffen behind me. I turned and asked. "What is it?" His posture told me that there was something wrong. I put my hand on his cheek. "Love, what's wrong?"

"Trouble." Warren told me his eyes shifting to the gold of his wolf, never a good sign when linked to that particular word. He looked away from me but not out the kitchen windows as he was apt to do when thinking or hiding something. Instead he looked in the opposite direction, south-east, and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, if he was looking the direction the trouble was then there was a better than good chance it was Mercy in trouble.

"Is it the pack?" I asked. This was the second time in just a couple of days that trouble had hit Warren thought his pack bonds, last time it was Adam's rage following a group of teens attacking Jesse. I was also scared what it could be this time.

He shook his head like he was trying to clear it. "There's trouble, a fight but I get the impression that quite a few are enjoying it."

"Who's the fight between?" I only knew a handful of the wolves by name and liked even less of them but I felt I had to ask because the pack was important to Warren. Ah the joy of In-Laws.

"Not within the pack." Warren wasn't looking at me but I didn't think he was seeing the wall he was looking at either. Instead he was focusing on what his pack bonds were telling him was happening. In the most abstract terms I understood the pack bonds, magical ties that bound the pack together and gave the Alpha power over the others, but I didn't understand more than that. I didn't know how much Warren could sense or see or feel from the others in his pack but I was guessing it was enough that he had more than a vague idea of what was happening.

"Adam and Darryl are fighting something, a fae I think." Warren continued I upgraded my assessment of how much he was getting from the pack bonds from 'vague' to 'pretty damned clear'. Maybe it was because Adam was there, I knew from the other day that Warren could get quite a lot through the pack bonds from his alpha. "Honey's there too and Peter and maybe Ben?" Warren continued. "Mercy was in danger and she went to Adam, it followed her, the pack is fighting to defend her. I should be there."

"By the time you get there the fight will be over." I told him calmly also didn't think he was in any fit state to be driving quite frankly, he was too distracted by what was happening at Adam's.

"Adam! No!" Warren suddenly shouted and even I could guess that wasn't a good sign.

"Warren, baby, talk to me." I tried to sooth him, stroking my fingers through his hair as I would his fur in his other form. It was a sign of how distressed he was that he didn't object to that particular endearment, generally he preferred something a little less feminine.

Suddenly he gasped and started breathing hard as if he'd been running, something I suspected was due to the fact that he had been holding his breath. "He's alright, Peter got him." He finally looked at me again and his eyes were still golden but I didn't feel the need to drop my gaze. "They're safe, the fae is gone."

"You should call." I told him, I didn't know what the wolf etiquette or procedure was under the circumstances but that seemed like a good idea since he was pack Third.

"In a while." He told me. "I'll let them calm down a little first."

"And you." I placed my palm on his chest and could feel his heart racing. "Set the table please?" He did as I asked and then wolfed down his meal before he checked in with Adam. It meant a lot to me that he didn't do into another room to make the call, even though I would only be able to hear his side of it.

"What happened?" He asked, the demanding tone made me suspect that it wasn't Adam or Jesse who had answered, he wouldn't speak to a young woman or his alpha in that tone. He listened for a while and then shook his head. "She needs to learn not to bite off more than she can chew." He was defiantly talking about Mercy. "How is she?" Another pause. "Good, and everyone else?" A sigh. "His heart is mostly in the right place when he finds it but I think his brain is permanently AWOL." He laughed at whatever the guy on the other end said. "Call me if you need anything, you did good Peter."

That explained the commanding tone, Peter was just about the lowest ranking in the pack but to my understanding he didn't mind because unlike most the pack he was a submissive and didn't mind letting others take charge. Unlike Warren.

Once he hung up I asked. "So what happened?" I was still eating my dinner since I actually wanted to taste what I was eating.

"Mercy got herself hunted by a fae and at least had the sense to take the fight to Adam. She's fine by the way, a couple of cuts and some bruises, Adam is apparently taking care of her."

"Oh she must be loving that." I laughed.

"She might be." Warren said. "After all she did run to him when she was in trouble, trusting him to protect her, that's gotta say something?"

"That for once she had some sense?" I suggested.

"Or that she's chosen him over Samuel." Warren said. "That's how I bet Adam will take it, or at least as a sign that he's ahead of Samuel in the running."

I shook my head, poor Mercy. I was so glad I didn't have to deal with that, I had Warren and we were happy. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Most of them fought as wolves, except Peter who borrowed Jesse's sword."

"Jesse has a sword?" I interrupted. "No, never mind I see that actually, continue."

"Adam told him to watch Jesse but Mercy overrode him and told Peter to go fight since he knew how to use the sword, it has iron in it so it's good against fae."

"Mercy can override Adam's orders?"

"She takes her rank from Adam even if she isn't officially his mate." Warren used his fork to steal a bite of my dinner. "It was a good thing she did too since it was Peter that pulled Adam out of the water before he drowned."

"Shit!" I muttered. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Ben decided to jump through Adam's front window, a trick that looks dramatic but is never a good idea, unless you want to risk taking your own head off." He shook his head. "He's fine for now but since his stunt endangered Mercy I'm not sure he'll be as fine when Adam gets through with him."

I knew better than to think that Adam would do Ben any actual harm. "Do they need you to go over?" This was the reality of life with a werewolf, his pack would come first. Unless I was in danger, Warren had assured me he would move heaven and earth, and kill whoever he needed to, to protect me.

It was sweet, in a slightly disturbing way I tried not to think about too often. What I also tried not to think about was that I would do the same for him, I'd have been happy to help Mercy hunt the vampire who'd hurt him if I could have, and I'd been prepared to go one on one with a werewolf who was standing between me and an injured Warren. Not my most intellectual moment in hind sight but it said a lot about my feelings.

In answer to my question Warren shook his head. "Peter didn't think so, Adam will call if he needs me but there are plenty of wolves there, including Darryl, and Samuel is at home with Mercy so she's safe, there are very few fae who would consider attacking the Marrok's son."

"Good." I told him. "Because I want a quite night in front of the TV."

"That sounds good to me." Warren agreed stretching and then picking up our plates. I cooked and he did the dishes, or more accurately loaded the dishwasher.

" "

A few days later Warren and I were finishing a late dinner when suddenly he doubled over in pain. "Warren?" I asked, touching his shoulder lightly. I knew better then to surprise a werewolf in pain, he might not mean to hurt me but he still could. He looked up at me, his eyes wolf gold and he was breathing hard, showing teeth that weren't quite human anymore. A long list of swear words ran through my head, this wasn't good, that much I could guess, and I suspected that it was like a few nights earlier. That the danger he was reacting to was a threat to his pack. "Warren what is it?"

His eyes met mine and I remembered to drop my gaze after a moment, he'd told me that I didn't need to do that, that his wolf didn't want to dominate me like that. But at that exact moment, with Warren so close to losing it and changing with meaning to, I figured it was better to be safe.

"He's enraged."

"Who is?" I pressed though I had a sinking feeling that I already knew who.

"Adam." Warren confirmed. "Darryl and I, we're trying to keep his anger from infecting the Pack, like we did last time, it could send everyone over the edge, but this is so much worse, I've never felt him so fucking enraged. He will kill. I have to go, he's calling me." He stood and headed towards the front hall.

I followed. "Are you alright to drive?" I asked as he snatched his keys of the hall table, personally I doubted it but I also doubted he'd let me drive him wherever he needed to go. If Adam had lost control then he would be dangerous and Warren wouldn't allow me to be in danger even to help Mercy.

He nodded. "Yeah." If his tone hadn't sounded so shaky I'd have been happier. He reached for the door but paused, looking back at me his eyes wide with horror. "It's Mercy, something must have happened to her."

"Can you tell what?" I asked.

He shook his head. "She isn't Pack but Adam could only be this mad if it was very serious and Jesse still has bodyguards after last weekend so it's not likely to be her."

"Should I come with you?" I knew it was futile but I had to asked, Mercy was my best friend after Warren. And I was concerned about Warren driving if he was distracted by the pack bonds and trying to contain Adam's anger.

He shook his head as he opened the door. "I need you here where I know you're safe." I understood his concern and though I would have liked to point out that I could look after myself, I knew that whatever had hurt our walker would have no problems hurting or killing me.

"Call me when you know what's going on or if you need me."

"I will do." He promised as he darted out to his truck which was fortunately parked behind my Jag, because the state of distraction he was in he would probably have at least dinted both cars. I could only hope that he didn't get any tickets rushing to wherever Mercy was.

The next two hours were probably amongst the longest of my life. Knowing someone I cared for was in serious trouble and unable to do anything to help. I hadn't felt this useless even when Warren was fighting for his life because I knew that I was doing something just by been there. This time I was totally useless. Being human sucked.

I couldn't help, so I cleaned. Usually my least favourite activity in the world it was at least busy work that gave my hands something to do and kept me from pacing. Nothing would keep my mind occupied.

I re-shelved the books Warren had read over the last month or so which had just been piled on a table in the library, he would read pretty much anything except my law texts and I couldn't blame him for skipping them, they were dull. Then I put the laundry on even though it didn't need doing for another couple of days at least.

I was just finishing one of my most hated tasks, cleaning the oven, when my cell rang. It hadn't been far from my hand since Warren left. I didn't even bother checking the screen when I answered since I knew it was Warren from the ringtone.

"What's happened?" I demanded in place of an actual greeting. "Where are you?"

"We're at the police station?" Warren said in a low voice, I suspected he was trying to avoid been over heard.

"Is Mercy in trouble?" I asked.

"Mercy's at the hospital with Samuel." Warren told me, "She's in a bad way but she'll be alright, physically." That clarification had alarm bells ringing in my head.

"Why are you at the station?" I asked, trying to keep calm.

"The Police very kindly asked Adam to accompany them; I came to make sure there were no problems since I have a lawyer on speed-dial."

I knew he meant me. "Do I need to start making some calls?" I asked knowing Warren would understand what I was asking; was Adam been charged with something?

"No." Warren reassured me. "They only thing they could manage would be desecration of a corpse, if that's even a crime anymore." His grasp of legalities was a little out of date.

"How did the corpse get there?" I asked.

"Mercy, self-defence."

"Warren tell me what is going on." I demanded. "And I want a straight answer."

"Give me a minute." He turned away from the phone. "Kyle's her friend, he deserves to know what's happened and he shouldn't hear about this on the ten o'clock news." I assumed he was talking to Adam, I recognised his voice but couldn't pick out the words. And I most certainly did not like the idea that whatever had happened to Mercy could end up on the news. "I can't just tell him on the phone, I need to tell him in person" Pause. "Thank you." Warren said then turned his attention back to me. "I'll be over as soon, Adam doesn't really need me here anymore since they aren't going to charge him with anything. I can't stay long but I don't want to have to tell you this over the phone."

Now I was seriously worried, boarding on freaked out. What could have happened to Mercy that would leave her in hospital and Adam at the police station? "I'll be waiting." I told Warren and then we hung up.

Cleaning was now impossible so instead I fretted and paced. What the hell had happened to Mercy that would lead to her killing in self-defence? And then landed her in the hospital in a 'bad way'. Warren's assurance that she would be okay was in no way comforting when coupled with the qualifier 'physically'.

I knew, from the countless cases I'd encountered over my career, that physical injuries healed far more quickly and reliably then mental or emotional ones. Someone had hurt Mercy enough to cause her to kill them, something it was fairly easy to get her to threaten to do but a lot harder to actually follow through with. She'd been hurt badly enough to send Adam into a rage that had, from what Warren had said before he left, threatened the stability of the Pack.

A few possibilities for what could have happened came to mind but I pushed them away, speculating would only serve to worry me more. I tried to tell myself that whatever had happened had already happened so my worrying over with wouldn't help. It didn't work.

The measure of Jack Daniel's I poured myself didn't help much either. I knocked it back in one then poured another and forced myself to take it into the lounge, worried that if I stayed next to the bottle I might end up downing most of it.

I tried to blank my mind and think of nothing, because it was better than considering the myriad of possibilities that could have happened to Mercy. Instead of thinking of them I tried to think of nothing at all. It didn't work particularly well.

It seemed like an age before I heard Warren's truck in the driveway. I met him in the hall and before he pulled me into a tight hug I thought I caught the glint of tears in his eyes. I held on to him tight, knowing that whatever had happened must have happened to Mercy must have been bad. Very bad.

He pulled away from me and took my hand. "Let's go sit." He suggested leading me back into the lounge and then pushing me onto the couch. He took the seat beside me and took my hands in his. "There's no easy way to tell you this Kyle but Mercy has been raped."

"What?" I asked in shock. How could someone have done that to Mercy? Why would they? For a moment I was debating finding a gun and shooting the bastard, then I remembered he was already dead and Mercy had killed him. Good. But she did karate, how had someone managed to attack her? Surely it wasn't a werewolf or it wouldn't have ended with Adam in a Police station. "Warren tell me what happened." I demanded.

"We're not completely sure." He admitted. "It starts with murders on the Fae reservation and Zee's arrest. The guy who was responsible for that killing is the one who attacked Mercy. DO you remember the guy at Tumbleweed? The one who tried to correct Samuel's Welsh?" I nodded. "He's the one, as best we can figure it out he got offended that she wasn't interested in him. He drugged her with some sort of Fae potion that made her obey him."

"So he ordered her to have sex with him and she did as she was told?" I asked, that would be very hard on Mercy, she always fought even when it was something for her own good. If she hadn't fought, if she'd gone along with her rapist then it could seriously mess her up mentally, I'd seen it before.

"Yes and no." Warren admitted. "She didn't manage to fight him off completely until after he was finished with her, but he had to keep forcing her to drunk which surprised the Fae who came to take back their artefacts."

His explanation made some sense but not enough for me to get the complete picture, so I decided to focus on the important and wait for the details later. "The police aren't pressing charges?"

"No." Warren said with a shake of his head. "Not once Adam showed how the Fae goblet could be used to control someone, until then they might have tried to arrest Mercy for murder. As Honey pointed out it only looked like she was drunk not under his control, none of us thought of that."

"Looked like?" I asked, wondering what he meant by that, had he somehow seen what had happened?

"Adam installed security cameras at her garage which is where she was attacked , he had to make the fae watch them before she would let us borrow the stuff we needed to prove it wasn't Mercy's fault." Warren said and then let go of my hands so he could bury his face in his. "I watched the video Kyle, he told her that she wanted him, made her believe it with that damned Fae shit, made her take her clothes off and then told her to drown herself when he was finished with her because no one would ever love her after he'd had her." He was crying by the time he finished, I could hear it even if I couldn't see his tears because his hands were in the way.

Sometimes I've teased Warren about crying, usually when he's trying to hide his tears at the end of a movie. This time I wouldn't, I was close to tears and I hadn't even seen the video. I wrapped my arms around him and let him cry against my chest.

Eventually he pulled back and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I need to be getting back, Adam want's people he can trust at his house. And after what's happened there's not that many he's going to trust with Mercy. And probably even fewer she'll be happy to have around."

I kissed his cheek. "Go." I told him. "I won't expect to see you for a few days, stay as long as either of them need you and call me if there's anything I can do to help?"

"I will do." He promised.

"And I want to see Mercy once she's feeling up to it." He nodded and quickly rushed up stairs to throw a few changes of clothes into a bag. While he was upstairs a thought occurred to me and I asked him once he came back down. "What about Zee?"

"He should be released in the next couple of hours." Warren told him. "That lawyer of yours is a bitch but she knows what she's doing, I don't think she likes me much, not since she found out Adam was a werewolf and guessed that I was too."

"She doesn't like anything preternatural." I told him then kissed him again. "Now go take care of Mercy and let me know when I can visit or if there's anything at all I can do to help."

"Of course." Warren promised and dashed out of the door, letting it slam behind him.

I heard his truck leave and then I turned and slammed my fist into the nearest wall. "Fuck!" The pain hurt, but now as much as knowing how Mercy had been hurt. When Warren had first called the possibility of rape had flitted through my mind until I pushed it aside, I didn't even want to consider that it might have happened to Mercy.

Now I knew it was what had happened and, worse, she had been drugged to force her compliance. I know from my job that when drugs or another form of coercion were used it often made the after effects of the rape worse for the woman, because she knew she should have fought but for whatever reason she didn't.

I shook out my hand to get rid of some of the pain from hitting the wall; I would really need to get back out of the habit of doing that. When I was younger I had a bad habit of hitting things when I was angry or upset, at least this time I hadn't broken anything in my hand or the house.

" "

Mercy's attack made the front page of the local paper: Local Mechanic Kills Rapist. I threw it straight in the trash.

" "

The next day I went to work as normal, at lunch time Marie knocked on my office door. "Come in." I called out, putting my sandwich to one said since as usual I was eating at my desk while I went over couple of file. "Hello Marie, is there a problem?"  
"I saw the paper, is Ms Thompson alright?" She said without any preamble as soon as the door was shut.

I sighed and waved for her to take a seat on one of the chairs facing my desk, I should have known that someone would notice that and mention it. "She will be." I told her. "She's gone back to work today but she's got her old mentor working with her today so she isn't alone in the shop." She'd also have whichever wolf was on guard duty with her but I didn't mention that.

"Is that why Warren hasn't been in today?"

I smiled at that, I should have known someone would realise that Warren hadn't been in today. Usually he would either come in with me in a morning or drop by for lunch. Unless he was doing a job for me. "She's comfortable with him and her boyfriend won't object to him either." It would be easier if I could just tell her that he was a werewolf, it would perfectly explain everything. But I couldn't do that, revealing what he was had to be hid choice, and if there was one thing that any gay man would understand it was the importance of coming out by your own choice.

"The paper said she's dating the local alpha." Marie said in a way that asked for confirmation.

"She is." I confirmed. "And Warren doesn't set off Adam's protective territorial instincts, since he is in a relationship and would be completely uninterested in a sexual relationship with her even if he was free. Which is probably why he puts up with me too."

"You know a werewolf?" She seemed shocked.

"He's dating my friend." I said with a shrug. "We've met a few times." Which was understating matters somewhat and I would have preferred not to lie to her but a lie of omission was better than the other option. "He had Warren and I take her to church on Sunday since he's away on business at the moment."

"So soon after his girlfriend was raped?" Marie was shocked and highly disapproving.

I smiled sadly. "This is not for general discussion." I warned her. "But someone at the police department edited the event and tried to make it look like Adam attacked an innocent man, he's taking care of that before it comes down on the heads of every werewolf in the country."

Marie held up her hand. "I understand and he's left her in good hands." Since she was talking about Warren I wasn't going to object and she left me to my lunch and paperwork.

* * *

AN: That was hard for me to write becuase how do you respond to finding out a friend was drugged and raped? Personally I hope never to find out.

On another note, once I have finished posting the chapters for Iron Kissed (there should be one more to go) this fic will be going on a short (hopefully) break. I have a lot of major deadlines in the next two months for my Masters and I have to focus on that, I had hoped to do the chapters for Iron Kissed and Bone Crossed back to back since the books run into each other but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I will still be writing here and there but i won't have time to polish chapters so I won't publish until I'm over this set of deadlines. I hope to get Bone Crossed chapters out before Frost Burned hits the shelves but I make no promises.


	25. Iron Kissed Part 5

Iron Kissed Part Five

"Hey." I said as I answered the phone. It had been days since I'd seen Warren though he'd been sure to call regularly and let me know Mercy was doing. Including the part where she'd snuck back home as a coyote, Warren had spent the next twelve hours curled up in bed with her as a wolf. Or at least that was what Honey had told me when she'd called, obviously Warren hadn't been able to make his usual daily call and had asked her to take care of it. "How is everything?"

"I think things are alright." Warren told me. "But if you want to come and see for yourself I've volunteered to take Mercy to church on Sunday, you are more than welcome to come."

"How come you're going?" I asked, I don't think I've ever known Warren to go to church though he grew up in a time when Sunday attendance was pretty much mandatory.

"Short straw." He told me. "Darryl is doing Sunday brunch with his wife and Ben doesn't have much faith in anything anymore."

"What about Adam?"

"He's in Washington, someone sent a senator the recording of what happened, edited to make it look like an unprovoked attack." I could clearly hear the anger in his voice and I shared it. "Adam and Charles are dealing with it." And no one was going to argue with Charles Cornick, I suspected Adam was only along because video was of him. "Besides Adam hasn't been big on religion since he was changed, he says he lost all faith in God during Vietnam."

"Well I can't say I have much faith in organised religion in general." I told him. "Since most of it condemns how I live my life but for the chance to see Mercy I can put up with it for an hour or so."

"Thank you, and from what Mercy's told me the church she prefers is pretty liberal so long as it's the usual minister there."

"I'll still avoid holding your hand during the service." I said drolly.

"That might be a good idea." Warren agreed. "Do you mind picking us up? My trucks not that big and Mercy's car is out of commission thanks to a Fae."

"So I heard." I told him. "Of course I'll pick you up, whose house are you at and what time?"

"Mercy's and can you pick us up about ten?"

"Of course." We talked for a while longer before hanging up.

Without Warren there my house seemed empty. It wasn't that he was a loud slob who took up most of any room he was in, unlike one or two of my ex-boyfriends, but he was still another presence in the house. And without that presence the house was just a little too empty for my liking.

That really was a scary thought, that in so short a space of time I had become so used to having Warren in my house. To having it be our home. It had been less than two months since Mercy had called me to tell me he was so badly injured they feared for his life and in that time he had become so permanent a fixture in my life that it was hard to imagine him not coming back again.

Not that I intended to let him go without a fight. Unless he started lying to me again, and about things more serious than what I was getting for Christmas and until then I would fight tooth and nail to keep him. And shoot anyone who tried to take him away, with silver bullets if need be.

Sometimes I worried that Warren didn't get how serious I was about us. For the past two months he hadn't been using his place for more than storing stuff, and there was less and less there as time passed and it migrated to the house. Yet he keep paying rent on the place rather than giving it up which suggested he wasn't as committed to us as I was. Still, he was attentive enough that I didn't think he was planning on leaving me.

Which raised the question of why he kept it, unless he didn't think I was fully committed to us. Unless he thought I'd change my mind about him. But I'd proved that I really loved him, before we'd broken up I'd all but abandoned my nice big comfy house so that I could live with him and nothing had changed since then.

Except that something had, I'd found out he was a werewolf. That might be the issue, not that I had a problem with what he was but maybe he thought I did. Or I might in the future and he was keeping his apartment so that he'd have somewhere to go if or possibly when in Warren's mind, I kicked him out. It was a stupid idea but then fear and love tended to make people stupid and if my reasoning was right then Warren had both.

I sighed, this was a good reason for Warren to move in; I thought too much when I was alone. For now though he was needed by Mercy and Adam, and that came above us when Mercy had been hurt. For now I would say nothing to him, there was too much going on with the pack and Mercy to pile this on him as well.

I would wait until after Christmas, by that point I would have known what he was for over a year and maybe that would get it through his thick skull that I was in this relationship for the long term. In the New Year, if he was still keeping his apartment then I would bring it up, and no doubt we would have a fight or two about it, hopefully followed by make-up sex, and eventually he would see things my way.

" "

The next morning I pulled up outside Mercy's house just before ten. Warren met me at the door before I could knock, knowing him he'd recognised the sound of my car or something like that. I knew Mercy could tell cars apart by the sound of their engines but Warren wasn't nearly as mechanically inclined. Whatever the reason he greeted me with a hug that I was very happy to receive. Even though I'd only seen him a few days ago it had been the longest we'd gone without seeing each other since we'd got back together.

"Mercy's just finishing her shower." He told me.

"Of course." I told him, his tone told me to act as if everything was perfectly normal. "Is Samuel around? That is his car out front right?"

"Yes that's my car." Samuel said as he stepped out of his bedroom and into the lounge. "Thanks for this Kyle, I'd go with her but I have work this morning."

"It's not a problem." I assured him and, knowing Mercy had hearing as good as the two wolves I mouthed 'how is she?'

Samuel shrugged and rocked his hand back and forth in a gesture I interpreted as 'so-so' and then mouthed; 'she'll be ok'.

I nodded just as Mercy walked out of her bedroom. "Are you talking about me?"

"Would we do that?" I asked her. "However your taxi service is here since I hear your car is out of action."

She hugged me and kissed my cheek. "Thanks Kyle."

"It's no problem, as I keep telling everyone, now your chariot awaits milady."

I held out my arm in the direction of the door and Mercy laughed while Warren snorted. "We're restricting your viewing." Mercy told me. "Where did you steal that line from?"

"Every medieval film he's ever seen." Warren muttered as he followed us out.

" "

I had to admit, church wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Mercy had been right when she'd told Warren it was a pretty easy going minister and congregation. That said, we sat on the row behind Mercy and I wasn't sure if the looks in our direction were for her or us, but I suspected it was mainly for Mercy. She'd made the front page of the local paper after all.

When we followed Mercy out of the Church the minister stopped for a few words and afterwards gave Warren and I a look that said he knew we were there to protect her and we better do a good job or he'd personally see we got the fire and brimstone he'd left out of his sermon.

Mercy hadn't looked pleased when he'd asked her if she was alright but her response had made me want to laugh, fortunately I managed to contain it until we were back in the car. It wouldn't do for the minister to think I was laughing at him, I might not be particularly religious myself but I had respect for people who were At least when it wasn't shoved down my throat.

"Foam at the mouth?" I asked, turning in my seat so I could see her in the back.

"You remember, we watched The Exorcist a couple of months ago." We had and I remembered it been a bit boring truthfully, I really wasn't sure why it was considered such a classic.

"I know a few good counsellors, too," I told her because I felt like I should make the offer and then because I knew that she might not show the restraint she had with the minister I continued before she had the chance to say anything. Or change and bite me. "So what are we doing this afternoon?"

She sighed. "I don't know what we're doing, I'm going to see if I can get my Rabbit running again." So that meant it was back to Mercy's then. Given what Warren had let slip about the 'guard Mercy' rota they were currently running he was due to stay with her until the evening which meant I was staying too since it would mean I could spend time with both of them.

"So back to yours then?" I asked and started the car without giving them much of a chance to say anything. "You do realise it's about a hundred degrees out there?" I pointed out. "It'll be like working on your car in an oven."

"You don't have to come out." Mercy told me.

"I do." Warren told her, twisting round to smile at her so she would know he didn't mind.

"Well would either of you mind if I stay in the relatively cool house?" I asked. "It's not like I'll be that much help, either as a mechanic or a body guard."

"I have cookies that need eating up." Mercy offered.

"Perfect." I grinned. "Though Warren would probably be happy to help you with those as well." I grinned and took his hand with the one I wasn't using to drive, thank god for automatics.

" "

Once at the house Mercy changed out of her 'good' clothes, defined as not having any permanent stains, and into something she could work in, which was pretty much everything else. Then she presented me with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and the TV remote. "You're a darling." I told her and kissed her cheek. "Have fun with the car."

While she and Warren went out to deal with her car I settled in front of the TV, being a Sunday there was precious little on and I ended up channel surfing while I munched on the cookies. I'd barely picked up my second when the backdoor opened. "Was it that easy to sort out or just that hopeless?" I shouted to them.

"Probably hopeless but that's not why we're back in here." Mercy said as she walked in, clutching a silver walking stick. Under other circumstances I might have wondered why she suddenly had such a finely crafted walking stick but I was far more concerned by Warren who was behind her. He was pale, soaked to the skin and being supported by an older man I didn't recognise.

"Warren, baby what happened?" I asked jumping up and rushing to him.

He coughed. "Think Fideal really has it in for werewolves now." I wrapped my arm around him, not caring that it would soak my shirt too.

"He sought to follow an order without care it had been rescinded." The man said, German I though by his accent and guessed that this was Zee. "Nor did he remember that Mercy is under my protection, unfortunately Warren got in the way."

"Always playing hero." I said with a shake of my head. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" I asked sarcastically and then turned my attention to Zee. I knew he was the reason that Mercy and Warren were both safe and I wanted to thank him for that but I knew better, never thank a fae. "I'm glad you were here to stop him from harming Warren or Mercy." I told him instead, it was close enough to a thank you without actually using the words. "I assume you're Zee."

"I am." He agreed. "And you must be Warren's Kyle."

"For my sins." I told him. "Right you need a shower because even to my nose you smell like the sea, and not the nice parts either." I told Warren firmly. "I'm sure there's something you can put on while we get your clothes washed."

"I have clean clothes at Adam's." Warren reminded me.

"Yes you do." I smiled. "I will go get them while you have a shower."

"And I will have a look at your car Mercy." Zee told her in a no-nonsense tone. "I do not think the damage will be fixed without a little magic."

"I'm not sure even that will do the trick." She said with a sigh.

"You underestimate me; there is nothing to do with cars that I cannot fix." He told her. "I will show Kyle your short cut to Adam's house and you can make sure Warren doesn't drown himself in the shower."

I followed Zee out of the back door. "You are a good friend to Mercy." Zee told me. "It was you who found her that lawyer ja?"

"It was." I admitted. "I know she's not the most likeable person, especially for people like you but I was counting on that. If it made it as far as a trial the very fact that a known fae-hater was defending you would have made many believe that you were innocent."

"It was a good plan." Zee admitted. "But I would prefer to never see the woman again."

"I don't think she'll accept my calls anymore." I told him. "Warren suspects that she knows what he is and may know his tie to me."

"That might be true." Zee agreed. "It was good of you to go to so much trouble for a friend."

"We would not all go to such trouble for Mercy?" Talking with a fae was like being in court, I had to mind every word and in all honesty I think I was starting to talk like Zee. "It was a good thing you came when you did."

"Ja." Zee agreed. "Or you might be looking for a new boyfriend." I had feared it had been that serious and Zee had just confirmed it. "I had heard that Fideal might choose to continue his hunt of Mercy but it is no matter now, I do not think he will bother anyone for quite some time."

"Good, I better go get Warren some clothes before he gives Mercy's neighbours a shock." Zee laughed and pointed me in the direction of the slightly lower section of fence that was easiest to jump.

When I knocked on Adam's back door it was opened by Ben. "What do you want?" He snapped at me, always so refreshing Ben.

"Clothes for Warren." I told him. "He said he has some here, now are you going to go fetch like a good puppy or do I have to get them myself?" Whenever I saw Ben or even heard his name I couldn't get the imagine of my sister's little puppy out of my mind, though they has very little in common personality wise.

Ben growled at me but Darryl's voice from the kitchen commanded his obedience. "Why does Warren need clean clothes?" He shouted at me

"Because his are soaked in salt water." I called back pleasantly.

"How?" It really was a little rude of him to not invite me in or at least come to the door to talk to me but there was every chance it was those werewolf politics or dominance games. Again.

"Oh he had round two with that fae that nearly drowned Adam the other day because he had decided to come kill Mercy."

Oh that got Darryl's attention, suddenly the doorway was very full of the pack Second and behind him I could see I had caught the attention of several other members of the pack. "What happened?" He demanded.

"I don't know the details." I kept my eyes away from his as a precaution but I wasn't pack and I refused to lower my gaze for him. "Mercy went out to work on her car with Warren. They were attacked and the only reason they're still in one piece is Zee came and saved them." I spotted Ben. "Oh good Ben's back." I reached around Darryl to take the bag from Ben. "I'm going now because if I'm missing Warren parading around naked I'll be very disappointed."

I turned and headed back towards Mercy's, I heard Darryl shout to his wife to turn the cooker off and then his footsteps behind me, did that mean Darryl was actually domesticated enough that he did his share of the cooking? Somehow it was hard to believe.

"I don't suppose you've brought breakfast with out?" I asked without turning around.

"How does Warren put up with you?" He growled out.

"I could ask your mate the same thing." I told him. "I can only assume you have really good blackmail material on her." He growled again and I decided that I'd pushed him far enough, despite what Warren may believe I do actually know when to quit. "Or she really loves you."

He snorted. "Must be the second." He said as we passed the pole-barn where Zee was cursing in German. At least I assume he was cursing, I don't speak German but I heard Fideal's name in there and he didn't sound happy.

"The gremlin doesn't sound happy." Darryl muttered.

"He's trying to fix Mercy's car for her." I told him as we reached the house. "He though it might take magic." I opened the back door and found Warren sitting at the table dressed in just a towel helping himself to the plate of cookies that Mercy had topped up.

"I should have figured you'd be over." Warren said when he saw Darryl was with me.

"Kyle says you fought a fae, why didn't you call for backup?"

"I did." Warren defended himself, not looking Darryl in the eye but equally not quite lowering his eyes. I was guessing they still hadn't quite sorted out who got to boss who around.

"He did." Mercy backed Warren up. "We tried to phone Adam's house and when that didn't work he even resorted to howling, I guess Fideal blocked that too." She smiled at that. "Then he got knocked out but Zee arrived before Fideal could eat me."

"Zee said he's heard that Fideal might still be hunting Mercy and came to see her." I told Darryl but my eyes were firmly on Warren's naked chest, it had been days since I'd seen him and I think it would be safe to say I was a little frustrated.

"Warren I want at full report so I can relay it to Adam when he gets back." Darryl told him. "But put some clothes on first before he starts drooling."

I wasn't drooling, I had more dignity than that, but if we'd been alone I wouldn't have kept my hands off him. And Warren knew it, he gave me a small smile as she took the clothes from me and then proceeded to get dressed while he gave Darryl a rundown of exactly what had happened with Mercy taking over at the point he was knocked out.

I knew the other three in the room were shapeshifters so maybe talking like that was normal to them but it certainly wasn't to me and I paid little attention to what was said and far more to Warren.

"I'll let Adam know." Darryl said, finally pulling my attention from the now fully clothed Warren. "Do you two think you can keep your hands off each other long enough to actually do your job?"

"Hey." I objected. "Let's get your wife in here and see much attention you pay!"

Mercy laughed and so did Warren. "We'll be fine." Warren told him. "Mercy has lots of cookies that need eating."

"I'll send Ben round later." Darryl promised. "You probably need break."

"I don't mind." Warren said but, I noticed, he didn't argue.

"You know I'm not totally helpless." Mercy protested.

"But we will be if Adam finds out we didn't take the very best care of you while he's away." Warren told her. "And personally I've rather attached to all my limbs."

"Me too." I added and Darryl nodded.

"So I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with us been protective for a while." Warren finished as if I hadn't said anything.

"Fine." Mercy said flopping down on the sofa though I don't think she was as annoyed as she made out and might even have been pleased that people worried about her. "How about a bad movie afternoon, I'm sure there's something on."

"I passed plenty of bad TV earlier." I told her as I sat down next to her. Warren settled on her other side as Darryl made his escape back out of the door. "I know it doesn't count as bad but I think I saw an advert for Doctor Who on sometime this afternoon."

"Good choice." Mercy said, flipping through the channels until she found BBC America. "Oh yeah, it's on in half an hour and look, Torchwood is on afterwards."

"I never object to pretty boys." I agreed. "But I still think I prefer Warren to Jack Harkness." Warren snorted like he wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not. It was a good afternoon, though Zee looked at us like we were crazy when he walked in at exactly the wrong moment. He stayed just long enough to tell Mercy he'd covered her worked at the garage Friday and Saturday, then he made his escape before he had to risk finding out if insanity really was contagious.

" "

When I went home that evening I went alone. Warren still needed to stay at Adam's. "You don't mind too much do you Kyle?" He asked me as we were standing next to my car. "But with the Boss away he needs someone to watch Jesse as well as this." He waved his hand in the general direction of Mercy's house.

I kissed him. "I don't mind." I assured him. "I told you to stay here as long as either of them need you." I stroked the side of his face. "Doesn't mean I don't miss you and I do want you home as soon as possible."

"I will." He promised and then whispered in my ear. "Now go home before I find a bedroom to haul you into."

I laughed. "Love you too." I gave him another quick kiss and climbed into my car. Warren watched me drive away with a smile on his face that made me feel happy in spite of everything.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay but in honour of getting half of my assigned work done, here's the last chapter for Iron Kissed. Now the bad news, it may well be Easter before I get Bone Crossed done as it's only half written at the moment and I have a heavy work load with assignments and my dissertation project. Sorry but I will put it up, eventually


	26. Bone Crossed Part 1

AN: Did anyone think I'd disappeared again? Well all my coursework for the next month has been submitted so now I have a little more free time (only a little, I still have my lab work to do but PCR cycles are great for fitting in fic writing time)! Bone Crossed is looking like it's going to have four parts to it and then possibly an interlude or two before we hit Silver Borne (no idea when I'll get that far though, sorry)

* * *

Bone Crossed Part 1

The next day I went to work as normal, at lunch time Marie knocked on my office door. "Come in." I called out, putting my sandwich to one side since, as usual, I was eating at my desk while I went over couple of files. "Hello Marie, is there a problem?"  
"I saw the paper, is Ms Thompson alright?" She said without any preamble as soon as the door was shut.

I sighed and waved for her to take a seat on one of the chairs facing my desk, I should have known that someone would notice that and mention it. "She will be." I told her. "She's gone back to work today but she's got her old mentor working with her today so she isn't alone in the shop." She'd also have whichever wolf was on guard duty with her but I didn't mention that.

"Is that why Warren hasn't been in today?"

I smiled at that, I should have known someone would realise that Warren hadn't been in today. Usually he would either come in with me in a morning or drop by for lunch. Unless he was doing a job for me. "She's comfortable with him and her boyfriend won't object to him either." It would be easier if I could just tell her that he was a werewolf, it would perfectly explain everything. But I couldn't do that, revealing what he was had to be hid choice, and if there was one thing that any gay man would understand it was the importance of coming out by your own choice.

"The paper said she's dating the local alpha." Marie said in a way that asked for confirmation.

"She is." I confirmed. "And Warren doesn't set off Adam's protective territorial instincts, since he is in a relationship and would be completely uninterested in a sexual relationship with her even if he was free. Which is probably why he puts up with me too."

"You know a werewolf?" She seemed shocked.

"He's dating my friend." I said with a shrug. "We've met a few times." Which was understating matters somewhat and I would have preferred not to lie to her but a lie of omission was better than the other option. "He had Warren and I take her to church on Sunday since he's away on business at the moment."

"So soon after his girlfriend was raped?" Marie was shocked and highly disapproving.

I smiled sadly. "This is not for general discussion." I warned her. "But someone at the police department edited the event and tried to make it look like Adam attacked an innocent man, he's taking care of that before it comes down on the heads of every werewolf in the country."

Marie held up her hand. "I understand and he's left her in good hands." Since she was talking about Warren I wasn't going to object and she left me to my lunch and paperwork.

" "

I was surprised when Warren walked into my office not long after everyone else had left for the night. "I thought you'd still be here." He told me as he walked around my desk so that he was standing next to me. "You work too hard."

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I thought you might miss me." He said with a grin. I stood up and kissed him, pushing him back against my desk and showing him exactly how much I'd missed having him around and all to myself. "Adam got back an hour ago and told me to go home for the night before you started to forget who I was."

"You didn't tell him that we took Mercy to church yesterday?" I asked, stroking his cheek. I had missed this, yesterday hadn't been enough because I'd had to share him and I selfishly wanted him to myself for a while.

"I did." Warren admitted. "He still told me to go home for the night, but he wants to see me tomorrow so we can work out a schedule for keeping an eye on Mercy that means we all get to work at least occasionally."

"You're off for the week." I told him.

"Kyle." He started to protest but I silenced him by putting my finger over his lips.

"No Warren, I might not be able to help by playing bodyguard like you can but I can do this and make sure that Mercy has you for at least this first week." I gave him a small smile. "After all I'm sure you're one of her favourite bodyguards."

"Hopefully with Adam back and Samuel here I can at least get home at nights."

"That would be nice." I told him. "I've missed having my human sized hot water bottle."

"I thought you were complaining it was too hot."

"I'm used to you in bed with me; it's strange not having you there." I admitted softly.

This time it was Warren who kissed me. "You ready to go home yet?" He asked me. "Or do you want to work a little longer first."

I glanced at the clock. "I was going to work for a bit longer but since you're here this can wait until tomorrow."

"I'd hoped you'd see it my way." Warren told me with a slow grin that was enough to make me abandon all thoughts of work.

"Why do you put up with me and my work?" I asked him as I started filing the papers that were on my desk into their proper draws.

"The same reason you put up with my pack." Warren told me, still leaning against my desk and not even trying to hide the fact that he was checking me out while I tidied up. "I love you." I grinned at him over my shoulder. "And I found this new Mexican place if you'd rather not cook."

"Meaning you're really hungry and don't want to wait?" I suggested. I like cooking and I am good at it, I just take longer than Warren would prefer. "That's fine." I assured him. "I'm not in the mood for cooking tonight anyway." Or at least I wasn't now I knew that Warren would be home for the night.

" "

That I managed not to yawn my way through court the next morning was a testament to the strength of the coffee that the nearest coffee shop produced. Since they were the closet to the courts they were obviously used to dealing with members of the legal profession and the fact that we all prefer our caffeine hit as large as possible.

My sleep deprived state wasn't solely because I spent the night making love to Warren instead of sleeping. Although that did feature we also spent quite a while talking. Warren needed to talk about what had happened to Mercy, he'd pushed his own feelings aside out of desire to help her but the whole thing that upset him.

With me he could talk about it without judgement. If it hadn't been Mercy that was hurt then maybe he could have talked to Adam but that was out of the question. As was talking to anyone else in the pack, his wolf nature wouldn't let him show what could be considered weakness in front of potential rival.

Warren told me all about the video he'd seen of Mercy's attack and Adam's arrival, how Mercy had hidden away in shame after it happened and only come out when the arrival of a fae had put Adam in danger.

"Not one of us thought about a murder charge until Honey pointed it." Warren admitted. "We should have but she was so obviously hurting that it never occurred to me that someone could think she was guilty of a crime."

"Because you are an honourable man." I'd pointed out. "Who would never consider rape in the first place. But it was good that Honey was there, faced with that I doubt even I would have thought it was anything but a clear cut case of self-defence."

"Once she said it I realised she was right." Warren admitted. "You couldn't tell Mercy was drugged up on that fae shit. But God Kyle, if you'd seen her." He'd snuggled tighter against my chest. "She was so hurt and Adam had refused to give her to anyone, even Honey, until I arrived. He told me he had to force her to drink more of that stuff so it would heal her and I know he hated himself for that. I've never seen Mercy like that, so defeated, she just curled up in my arms and started shaking. By the time Adam and I got back to his she'd changed forms and, according to Ben, was feeling so horribly guilty she wouldn't even stand up around him. She was thinking she was less than worthless."

I'd let him talk for a while longer without saying anything. He hadn't needed me to say anything, all he needed was someone to listen to him and that was what I did. And when he'd finally talked everything out and shed his tears for what had happened he'd begged me to make love to him, to get the images out of his head so that he could sleep.

It had been a long night but worth it, and worth all the coffee I'd needed to make it through my morning court appearances.

Fortunately I didn't have court that afternoon and only one meeting. Once that was out of the way I decided, in spite of my usual workaholic tendencies, to knock off early. Especially since there was a real danger of my falling asleep at my desk. I hadn't slept all that well the previous night even when I had tried, I might not have seen the video that Warren had but my imagination filled in the blanks far too well for a sound night's sleep.

When I let her know I was leaving early I thought Angelina on Reception would die of shock, she actually checked the clock on the wall and then her watch before bidding me a good evening. Maybe my workaholic tendencies were getting a little out of control.

I text Warren to let him know that I'd gone home early so I could catch up on my missed sleep. I didn't want him to worry about where I was if he arrived at the office and I wasn't there. Given the way things seemed to be going for the pack at the moment he'd probably think a zombie got me or something. I snorted to myself at that one, zombies at least weren't real. I hoped.

" "

I ended up taking a nap on the couch and was woken by the text alert on my cell. It was from Warren: 'A bit of trouble here.' It read. 'No one hurt but will be late back. Sorry.'

I text back an acknowledgment and then sighed, so much for dinner tonight. I equally couldn't be bothered with cooking and picked a takeout menu at random from the stack in the kitchen. The Chinese place I picked were their usual quick and efficient selves, we didn't keep the menu for anywhere that wasn't at least decent, and I had something to eat in no time. I put the spare in the fridge for Warren later, even if he ended up eating at Adam's he'd finish it off at some point.

Now I was suddenly faced with an empty evening and no plans. I didn't feel like going out, even if one of my friends was up for it, which was unlikely on a Tuesday night. Suddenly I was hit by the thought that, at some point, I'd managed to grow up. And there was no denying it, when you'd rather stay in on your own then track down some friends and get drunk you've defiantly grown up. The thought made me laugh and for some reason I found that it was a good five minutes before I could make myself stop, it was probably some sort of delayed reaction to the stress of the past few days.

My giggles under control I decided that I wasn't in the mood for TV or a movie either. Instead I went to the library and picked out a Nora Roberts books, it was one of my favourites but I hadn't re-read it recently. Then I opened a bottle of wine and settled on the couch in the library for the evening.

" "

"Kyle?" Warren called out as he let himself in later that night.

"In here." I called back and glanced at the clock, it was getting late enough that I had been considering going to bed despite the nap I'd had that afternoon.

"Don't you look cosy?" Warren drawled at he stopped in the doorway.

"Well my date stood me up so I had to find someone else to spend the evening with." I grinned. "There's left over Chinese in the fridge, I couldn't be bothered to cook tonight."

"I'll be back in a minute." It was actually a couple of minutes since he had to reheat the food in the microwave and when he came back he was also carrying an empty wine glass, which he proceeded to fill with the last of the wine in the bottle I'd opened earlier. "It'd be a shame to waste it." He told me with a grin. I didn't protest since he was right and I'd already had two glasses, not enough to get me drunk but I did have work in the morning.

"So what happened this time?" I asked once he'd had the chance to have a few bites of his dinner. From the speed he was getting down it he hadn't eaten at Adam's.

"Well I might not be Paul's most hated person in the pack anymore."

Maybe the wine had more effect than I thought. "Explain please"

"The short version, well shorter any way." Warren said. "You remember Stefan?" I nodded, we'd never actually met but I remembered his name from the demon/vampire thing that helped Warren and I get back together. "Well his Mistress found out he helped Mercy kill the vampire responsible for the sorcerer, and let's just say if it was an option between having his Mistress as my alpha and been lone wolf I'd pick alone every time, the woman is a crazy bitch."

"So what happened?" I pressed, so far I didn't see what that had to do with Paul hating a member of the pack more than he did Warren.

"Well she decided to torture and starve Stefan, then drop him in Mercy's house in the hope that he'd kill her, luckily Adam was there and he let Stefan snack on him and a couple of the other wolves."

"This was tonight?"

"No, this was yesterday." Warren grinned and I knew that whatever had Paul's panties in a twist hadn't upset Warren and maybe it even pleased him, thought that could just be because it upset the homophobic bastard. "Today, Stefan nearly got inside Mercy's head with of his vampire tricks, completely accidental and instinctive. But Adam still took offence and in a moment of what he refuses to admit was sheer blind panic," Warren paused for dramatic effect. "He brought Mercy into the pack."

"What?" I asked in shock. "But I thought it wasn't possible to make human mates a part of the pack."

"It shouldn't be, even people like witches can't be made a part of the pack." Warren assured me. "But apparently coyote is close enough to wolf for it to work. I was at Adam's at the time, along with Ben, Aureile and Paul but everyone else sensed it pretty fast and converged on Adam's. Last time I saw something like that, Adam had just brought me into the pack."

"Is this going to cause problems?" I asked as I finished the last of the wine in my glass.

"Probably." Warren agreed. "But mainly just headaches for Adam I think, the pack is not a democracy no matter what some of the others might think. We obey Adam, the only one who can force Adam to do something is Bran and he wouldn't, especially since Mercy was his first and this will help keep her safe."

"Hopefully." I muttered.

Warren nodded and finished off his dinner before leaning back on the couch with his glass of wine. I put my empty glass on the table and curled up against him, using his stomach as a pillow. "So you stayed for the meeting?" I asked. "Or at least the event where everyone complained at Adam."

"Nah." I felt Warren shrug. "I hung out with Mercy instead; having me there wouldn't help Adam calm down the pack, since most of the people complaining about Mercy complained about me as well."

"So Paul is sexist as well as homophobic?"

"More racist I think." Warren suggested. "He doesn't mind women, doesn't complain when Aureile gives him an order. I think it's the coyote part that's bothering him."

"He's an ass."

"That too." Warren agreed. "Are you ready for bed, because I'm in real danger of falling asleep right here."

"I had a nap earlier." I told him as I rolled off the couch and stretched. "But I think bed might be a good idea, it certainly can't hurt to get an early night for once."

Warren grinned up at me. "Keep pulling moves like that and we won't be going to bed to sleep." I said nothing but held out my hand to pull him to his feet.

* * *

AN: Sorry this is short but all the chapters for Bone Crossed are going to be short because the boys aren't in it that much and it takes place over only a few days. I've also had a bit of a mass update day with this and Friends and Family getting new chapters as well as the third part of my Torchwood/Sanctuary crossover going up (or at least the prologue of it).


	27. Bone Crossed Part 2

Bone Crossed Part 2

The next day Mary-Jo died. Warren and I had decided to go out for dinner, there was a new Vietnamese restaurant that had recently opened about fifteen minutes from my office and after the good reviews it had received we'd decided to try it out. The reviews had been correct about the quality of the food, what they had neglected to mention was the quantity. Even I thought it was lacking and asked Warren in a low voice if he wanted to pick up a pizza on the way home.

He'd nodded and laughed, then suddenly he bowed his head and I could see the tension in every line of his body. His knuckles as they gripped his silverware were white and his shoulders were starting to shake. "Warren what is it?" I asked him. I put my hand on his and he let go of his knife so he could hold it, his fingers were cold. "Baby?" I asked stroking my thumb over the back of his hand, normally he wasn't a fan of pet names in public and the fact that he made no objection at all told me there was something serious going on, I could only guess that it must be something to do with the pack. I hoped Mercy wasn't in trouble again.

He finally looked at me and his eyes were wolf gold but what caught my attention was that they were shiny with tears. Warren was raised in a generation where men weren't allowed to cry and for him to be that upset in public, I knew something terrible had happened.

"What is it?"

"Mary-Jo." He finally answered, I knew her by name though I didn't think we'd ever met and as there were only three females, and Mercy, in the pack I think I would have remembered.

I rose from my chair and crouched next to his, not caring about any funny looks we might get, I doubted we'd be back at that restaurant anyway. "Has something happened to her?"

Warren bit his lip, then nodded and drew in a deep breath before answering. "She's dead." I pulled him into a hug and felt his shaky breath against my neck.

"Wait here." I told him. "I'll settle the bill and we'll go." I wasn't sure where we'd go, either home or to Adam's, whichever Warren needed. He nodded and I rose to my feet. I squeezed his shoulder as I left and walked over to the Maître'D.

"Is everything alright with your companion Sir?" He asked.

"No." I told him. "My partner has just received some bad news and we need to leave immediately so I'd like to settle the bill." Thus assured that out sudden departure wasn't caused by anything that the restaurant had done, he quickly printed out the bill and I handed over my card. While the payment went through I glanced over my shoulder at Warren, he was still sitting at our table with his hands covering his face.

"Thank you Sir." The man said as he handed back my card and receipt. "Please come again."

I only nodded to him and made my way back to Warren. My hand on his shoulder got his attention and he looked up at me. "Come on." I told him and took his hand to guide him out of the restaurant. My car was parked in the parking lot, Warren had left his truck at the office when he'd met me and we'd intended to drive back that way and let him pick it up but with the state he was in I didn't want him driving. He didn't argue at all when I pushed him towards the passenger side door.

"Adam's." He told me when I buckled my seatbelt, I noticed that he hadn't bothered with his but it wasn't like a car crash would kill him. I didn't object just started the engine and headed towards Kennewick.

"She was a fireman." Warren said after a moment and I knew he was talking about Mary-Jo. "And she was tough, I don't know what could have hurt her except another wolf and none of the pack would attack one of the women."

"We'll find out." I let go of the wheel with one hand and took his. "And then you can make them pay."

" "

We were almost to Adam's house when Warren let out a startled gasp. "Mary-Jo!" He turned to look at me, he had been looking out of the window without paying much attention to the passing scenery. "I can feel her; she's back in the pack bonds."

My knowledge of the pack bonds is limited and my understanding was probably even less but I did grasp that this wasn't normal. "Are we still going to Adam's?"

"I need to know what's going on." He paused. "The pack is upset; it might not be a good idea for you to stick around." The fact that he was still holding my hand suggested to me that while it might not be a good idea for me to stick around he wanted me with him for the moment.

"I'll stay for a while." I told him. "If I'm in the way I'll clear off."

Adam wasn't there when we arrived but Ben and a couple of the others were. The British wolf looked shaken and Warren pulled him into a hug as soon as he saw him. "Do you know what happened?" He asked.

Ben shook his head. "She went out with Paul and Alec; I think they were planning on hitting Uncle Mike's." I knew that was the local hang out for anyone who wasn't human, in fact humans were actively banned from the place which explained why I'd never actually been there and didn't even know where it was. "It felt like she fucking died, she was gone from the pack bonds and then she wasn't."

Further conversation or comment was prevented by the door been opened by a wolf I didn't recognise, behind him was Paul who I certainly did recognise. He was carrying a woman that I guessed was Mary-Jo, she was quite clearly breathing.

"Bloody hell." Ben said when he saw them.

"What happened?" Warren asked, subtly stepping between me and the others.

"It was an accident." Said the man I didn't recognised but guessed was Alec based on what Ben had said. "I didn't mean to."

"There was magic at Uncle Mike's." Paul told us and I noticed that all the wolves in the house had converged on the front door. "It was aimed at wolves, we didn't know what was happening, then she was dead."

I looked them over and it didn't take much effort to work out what must have happened. Alec was covered in blood and looked horribly guilty, the magic might have done something to them all but I was willing to bet that he was the once responsible, directly or indirectly, for Mary-Jo's death.

"So why is she breathing?" Ask another wolf I didn't know.

"A fae brought her back; someone decided she owed Mercy a favour." Paul explained. "But she's not right."

Warren nodded. "Get her downstairs." He told them and for once it seemed like Paul wasn't going to argue with Warren's instruction on the principle that it came from Warren. "Kyle, can you run over to Mercy's and get Samuel for me?"

Apparently no one had noticed I was even there because suddenly all the wolves who hadn't followed Paul and Mary-Jo down stairs were looking at me. "What the effing hell is your Boy Toy doing here?" Ben apparently decided to voice what they were all no doubt thinking.

"We were having dinner out." I told them. "I didn't fancy been left at the restaurant. I'll be right back." I told Warren and headed for the back door which I knew was the quickest route to the house that Samuel shared with Mercy. I also had no doubt that Warren was eager to get me out of the house and away from the pack. For some reason he seemed to think that I'd get into trouble otherwise.

I could see Samuel's car in the drive even from the back of the house so I knew he was in. "Samuel?" I called as I knocked on the door. "It's Kyle."

The door was opened. "What are you doing here?" Samuel asked when he saw me there.

"You're needed over at Adam's." I told him.

He stepped back into the house but left the door opened behind him so I followed him inside. "What's happened?" He asked as he went to his room, I guessed he was getting his first aid kit. "Is Mercy hurt?" I think it says something not altogether complimentary about our mutual friend that when we knew there was someone hurt both Samuel and I immediately jumped to the same conclusion.

"Not this time." I told him when he came back out. "It's one of the wolves." I shook my head as we went back out and Samuel locked the door. "I don't understand but I know that Warren thought Mary-Jo was dead and now she's alive again, someone said something about a fae."

"I'll get the rest from them." Samuel assured me. "Why are you here?"

"Warren and I were having dinner at a new restaurant, which I wouldn't recommend, I didn't want to let him drive."

Samuel nodded as we climbed over the boundary fence. "I'll ask someone who was there what happened." He told me and then glanced to the road beyond Adam's house. "Adam's back." He noted as a car pulled into the drive.

" "

We left Adam's half an hour later. The majority of the pack had arrived and the rest had called to check in, everyone was assured that Mary-Jo was alive and would stay that way. Samuel had advised the presence of the pack to help Mary-Jo but a stable and calm pack would be of more help to her and Warren wasn't exactly the most popular guy with some of the pack. He knew his presence would hinder rather than help, so we left.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" I asked Warren as I pulled away from Adam's house.

Warren sounded tired. "I just want to go home." He told me. I didn't argue and drove us back in silence.

Once we were home I pushed Warren into the lounge. "Go sit down." I told him firmly. "I'm ordering a pizza." If I'd found the portion sizes at dinner small Warren certainly would have, I also suspected that there was some mild delayed shock setting in.

After ordering I put the phone back in its cradle and went into the lounge where Warren was sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. "Hey." I said softly as I sat down. "How are you doing?"

"Better then Mary-Jo." He told me humourlessly but without actually looking up. "I've never felt a pack member die before."

"But she's going to be alright, the fae promised and Samuel seemed to agree with it." I knew fae don't lie and Samuel wouldn't be able to lie to another werewolf.

"Doesn't change the fact she was dead." Warren told me. "There was a hole in the pack and we could all feel it, we knew who it was but not what had happened, all I felt was someone's rage and horror, the second was probably Alec."

"What happened?" I asked.

"There was a spell at Uncle Mike's." He told me. "Something supposed to affect anything linked to wolves and drive them to violence, it hit the three of them and Alec doesn't even know why he did it, why he ripped her throat out." He looked at me; I think he was looking for horror or revulsion at what he was saying. Almost as if he expected me to run away from the violent reality of werewolves but I wasn't going anywhere. I knew werewolves were dangerous, I knew Warren was dangerous but I also knew that he would never intentionally hurt me.

"Who would do that?" I asked. "Was it one of the fae?"

Warren shook his head. "Vampires, Adam said Mercy got a hold of whatever they used to hold the spell, she said it was the vampires."

I took his hand and held it, more for my comfort than his. Vampires, the last time he'd had dealing with the vampires he'd nearly died and now they were attacking the pack. "What will happen now?" I asked a little nervous.

"Adam will sort it out." Warren assured me. "He's good at the political stuff but I might not be around much the next few days."

"Why not?"

"Adam can't deal with Marsilia's people directly; it would make her seem more powerful than him." That I at least understood and I also didn't like the implications. "Which means that Darryl and I are going to have to do the negotiating for him and with the hours vampires keep I might not be around much."

"I understand and remember you're off work for the next week anyway." I told him. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will." He promised. "But Mary-Jo deserves justice for what happened tonight and we need to make sure this never happens again."

"Any idea why it happened?" I asked. "Why are the vampires suddenly targeting werewolves."

"I reckon it's because Mercy killed the vampire who made the sorcerer." The vampire who'd made the monster that had tortured him. "Marsilia didn't give her permission to do that and Stefan and Wolfe covered it up. Marsilia's found out, it's why she tortured Stefan like she did, so now she's after Mercy."

"And all the wolves." I took his hand. "I need you to be careful Warren, please. I don't want to lose you."

"You aren't going to lose me Kyle, I think I proved how hard I am to get rid of." Somehow that wasn't nearly as reassuring as I think he wanted it to be. "But I need you to be careful too, the vampires have proved that they will go to extremes to get at Mercy, they attacked a fae bar just because we sometimes go there. There's nothing to say they won't go after human families too."

"You're worried they might try and get to me?" I asked in surprise.

Warren nodded. "You're good friends with Mercy, she's only got a few human friends. And you're with me, I'm the highest ranked in the pack with a human partner."

I thought about it and realised he was right, Mercy herself had told me that she didn't have many close friends and when I mentally ran through the list in my head I realised that I was pretty much the only human. Warren was also right about the pack ranking, Aureile could take care of herself and Mercy was the one that this all focused on. If someone wanted a relatively easy target to hurt Mercy with I was a pretty good choice.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Don't be out alone after dark." He told me. "And until this is all over don't invite anyone into the house, especially after dark. The threshold thing works on vamps but I'm not sure it'll work on their humans or not."

I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I'll be careful." I promised him. "I'll avoid staying late at the office for a few days and I won't open the door to anyone I'm not expecting." I had no sooner said that than there was the sound of someone pulling into the drive and a moment later the doorbell rang. "Relax." I told Warren with a laugh as I got up. "That one I am expecting, it's the pizza I ordered."

" "

Since dealing with the vampires required late hours Warren slept at Adam's for the next few nights, it made no sense for him to drive all the way back to mine every night at whatever time he got done with the vampires, generally the early morning hours.

"How is everything there?" I asked him when he dropped by for lunch.

"Well Mercy made it to her friend's house fine." He told me as he dug into the szechuan chilli beef he'd brought for us.

"Always good to know." I said. "How is everything else? And Mary-Jo?"

"She keeps prepositioning Ben."

I nearly choked on my lunch. "She what?" I coughed.

"She told him that if he kept his mouth shut she'd love to get naked with him." Warren told me with a laugh. "Physically she seems fine and we'll know she's alright to be on her own when she stops hitting on the pack misogynist."

"I just hope it isn't permanent."

"So does her boyfriend Henry." Warren said with a smirk.

"What's going on with the vampires?"

"We've had talks, Darryl and I met with two of them at Denny's last night." He gave me a wicked grin. "And Adam is currently playing host to a couple of unwilling guests."

"Hostage taking?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, that wasn't usually a good guy move.

"Call them prisoners of war." Warren suggested. "And they're been kept much more comfortable than we would be in the vampires' custody." His eyes darkened. "They're better of then Mary-Jo is."

"I'm not going to argue." I assured him. "But I take it Adam is holding them as leverage."

"Until we get a formal apology and compensation to Mary-Jo, as well as a promise not to do anything like this to any member of the pack again."

"Has anyone told her that Mercy is part of the pack?"

He grinned. "Nope, but Bran came down to visit Mercy before she left and he personally called Marsilia to deliver the message. We'll get the answer we want." He told me confidently. "Mercy was Bran's long before she was Adam's, Marsilia cannot afford to go to war over her because she'll lose. She'd have a hard fight against the pack here, never mind that Bran can call on every pack in North America and I'm pretty sure the rest of the world if he really wanted to push it."

That did make me feel a little happier for Mercy's safety. "Just keep yourself safe too." I reminded him.

"You know I will." He told me. "So has there been anything interesting going on here."

I nodded. "A couple of things and one or two that I think I'd like your input on once you're free. There's also this doctor's wife who came in this morning, seems her husband has a very interesting interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath."

* * *

AN: Please leave a review? Receiving them does help remind me to update (this is not me refusing to update without lots of reviews, it is a fact that I am hopelessly forgetful and having reviews pop up in my email does remind me that I need to update)


	28. Bone Crossed Part 3

Bone Crossed Part 3

And in the end the cause of all the trouble was vampire internal politics. Or so Warren told me. I'd been rather surprised to be woken by him kissing me rather than my alarm. Not that I was objecting because it was a far better way to wake but I certainly didn't remember him coming in. He was laid on top of the covers and still dressed but with his boots off so I knew he hadn't been there long.

"Good morning." I said. "When did you get in?"

"About half an hour ago."

I looked over him. "You look tired."

"I haven't been to bed yet." He admitted. "A late night conference with the vamps and it dragged on, so when I saw what time it was I thought we could have breakfast together before I get some sleep."

"I'm not going to object." I smiled. "But are you going to tell me what happened?" He did, breaking off while I grabbed a quick shower and then picking up the narrative as soon as I shut off the water.

"So Marsilia tortured Stefan just so she could expose traitors in her Seethe?" I checked I had the right idea while we ate breakfast.

"Pretty much." Warren agreed as he ate a small mountain of bacon. "So then I dropped Mary-Jo and Alec back off at Adam's, the boss had already told me I could head back here if we got done any time before dawn."

I kissed him. "And it was a very pleasant surprise to wake up to." I told him. "But you're half asleep and I have to get to work. I'll try and get away early this evening."

Warren laughed. "You mean you'll actually leave at five when everyone else does or are you really planning on being home early?"

"Surprise." I told him and downed the last of my coffee before I gave him another quick kiss and headed for the door.

*"*"*

I did actually end up going home before everyone else in the office but it wasn't exactly by choice. The ringing of my cell interrupted me as I was typing up some case notes and I frowned at it in annoyance. It had interrupted my train of thought and now I'd have to get back into it again, as soon as I got rid of whoever was on the other end.

When I saw the caller ID my annoyance level dropped appreciably, only to be replaced by fear. 'Adam's House.' I had serious doubts that there would be any good news calling me from that number,

"Hello, Kyle Brooks speaking."

"I guessed that Boy Toy." Said the voice on the other end. "It was your bloody mobile I called."

"Ah my favourite demented staffie." I recognised Ben's voice immediately, the British accent helped. "Is there something I can do for you or did you just want to trade insults with me all afternoon."

"Warren's not answering his phone." Ben told me. "There was some trouble when Adam helped Mercy with her pack bond and Darryl and Warren stepped in to help. She's fine and Aureile said Darryl is but Warren's not bloody picking up, any idea where he is?"

I'd started grabbing my things on as soon as Ben said the word trouble. "He's at home." I told Ben as I grabbed my suit jacket from the back of my chair. "I'm closer than you are." Since he was calling from Adam's house. "I'll go check on him."

"Call me back." Ben told me. "If there's a problem then I can ask Samuel to come over."

"I will." I told him and hung up without any sort of good bye. Angelina was at her usual place at the reception desk. "I've got to leave." I told her. "Warren isn't well and one of his friends called and asked me to pick him up." Close enough to the truth. "I'm not expecting any calls but take a message if anyone does."

"Of course." She said. "I hope Warren feels better soon."

"So do I." I muttered on my way out. I probably broke a few records as well as laws to get home, the last time I had been that reckless in a car Warren had been dying. It seemed to be something of a pattern. His truck was still in the driveway so at least knew he hadn't gone out.

"Warren!" I shouted as I opened the door. There was no answer but I spotted him lying on the floor near the door to the kitchen. He hadn't moved when I called. I ran over and dropped to my knees beside him. "Warren!" No response so I shook his shoulder. Still no response. I spotted the empty glass nearby that he must have dropped when he'd fallen, somehow it was still intact.

I grabbed it and rushed to the kitchen, filling the glass with cold water I hurried back and poured it on him. A movie cliché I know but it worked and he jerked awake coughing. I put the glass on a nearby table and knelt beside him.

"Sorry." I told him. "But I couldn't wake you."

"Kyle?" He asked with a groan.

"Yes, Ben called and said you might be in trouble and weren't answering your cell so I rushed home. Are you alright?" I added as I helped him to sit up.

"Just stiff." He assured me and then tried to stand up and added with a groan. "And sore."

"Take it easy." I advised as I helped him stand. I remembered the last time he's been hit by his pack bonds but decided that a massage might not be enough this time. "Then into the hot tub with you, the warm water will be good for your muscles."

"Were you planning on joining me?"

"As soon as I make sure I actually locked my car." That I wasn't sure said how worried I'd been. I pushed him towards the back door. "I'll be out in a minute or two."

It turned out I hadn't locked the car, I hadn't even closed the front door. I did both and then made my way out to the back yard. Warren was already in the hot tub, his clothes left in a pile on the deck. I sighed but didn't actually call him on it. With how much he was no doubt hurting I supposed I should just be glad he'd bothered to strip at all. I folded his clothes and place them on a chair, then started on my own.

I glanced over at Warren as I shrugged my shirt off. "Enjoying the view?" I asked flirtatiously.

"Was I not supposed to?" I smirked and put my cell on a low table next to the hot tub before I finished stripping and quickly joined Warren in the warm water, the air temperature was just starting to get a touch too chilly for naked to be comfortable.

Warren had closed his eyes and was leaning his head back against the edge of the tub. "You still think a hot tub is unnecessary?" I asked.

"Yeah." Warren replied, his eyes still closed. "A hot bath does as good for sore muscles."

"More space for company here." I pointed out as I stroked my hand up his arm. Despite his relaxed expression, the muscles of his shoulders were still tense and knotted. "Come on, turn around." Warren did as he was told and I had him lean against the edge of the hot tub so I could get to his back.

Warren raised his eyebrow questioningly and then grinned when he felt my hand on his shoulders. "That feels good." He groaned. I worked my hands down to the small of his back and resisted the temptation to go lower. That could come later. As I worked on getting the knots out of Warren's muscles I told him about what had been going on at the office, cases and the office gossip.

"Half the women are in an absolute uproar over this book." I told him. "Sally told me the basics of it and it doesn't sound all that good but I might read it sometime, if I get very bored." Warren made a non-committal noise and I suspected he wasn't really listening to what I was saying. "You still awake?" I asked poking his shoulder. "No falling asleep in the tub remember?"

"I'm not asleep." Warren said.

"Then what was I just saying?"

"Something about a book?" Warren's answer was more of a question.

"Close enough." I allowed. "What did you do today?"

"Sleep." I couldn't see Warren's face but I could hear his humour. "Played pool for a bit."

"Without me?" I pouted; I did enjoy watching Warren bending over the table.

"I wanted to actually get some practice in." He told me. "Ben keeps threatening to find somewhere that has a snooker table and have a pack tournament."

"Sounds like fun." I commented. "I hope I get an invite."

Warren laughed. "You just want to watch people bend over the table."

"Nothing wrong with that."

Warren turned and grinned. "Your turn." He grabbed my shoulders and turned he so that my back was to him. "You're got some knots." He commented as his hand ran over my shoulders.

"Worry." I told him with a sigh. "For you and Mercy mostly."

"I've not been in any danger Kyle."

"You were dealing with vampires Warren." I told him. "The last time you did that you nearly died, forgive me if that makes me worry about you."

I felt him lean forwards and press a kiss to the back of my neck. "Love makes you worry." He said softly against my skin. "I love you too Kyle. Having you gives me something to come home for."

"Just make sure you always come home." I told him firmly.

"I will."

"Good." I all but purred as his fingers dug into the muscles at the base of his neck. "Because otherwise I might just have to come after you." It actually took me a moment to recognise the ringtone of my cell and I reached blindly for where I'd left it on the nearby table, Warren's hands and the warm water were turning my brain to mush. I answered without actually looking at the screen. "Uhmm?"

"Kyle?" It was Mercy and she sounded a bit surprised and uncertain at my greeting. I couldn't blame her. "I was calling to see how Warren was."

I laughed and twisted so I was stilling straight on the seat. "Sorry Mercy, we're in the hot tub." I batted Warren's hands away so I could focus on the call. "He's fine." And doing his best to distract me from the call. "How are you? Ben said you were all right."

"Fine." She insisted and then pressed her original question. "Warren?"

"Was passed out in the hallway, where he'd evidently been headed to the kitchen with an empty glass." I told her.

"Wasn't empty when I was carrying it." Warren added with amusement.

"Ah, I didn't notice much besides Warren." I admitted. "But he woke up in a few minutes—"

"Cold water in your face does that." Warren put in, I knew his comments were directed as much to Mercy as to me.

"But he was stiff and sore," I continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "Thus the hot tub."

"Tell him I'm sorry." Mercy told me.

Warren answered her before I could relay it. "Nothin' to be sorry for, pack magic can be tricky sometimes. That's what Adam, Darryl, and I are for, sweetheart." He frowned. "I don't feel you in the pack anymore. Problems?"

"Probably not." I half wondered if I should just hand him my cell. "Samuel says I just burned out the circuit for a while. It should come back online soon."

"Apparently it wasn't necessary that I pass anything on." I said dryly, werewolf hearing must make conference calls easier for them.

Mercy was amused. "Give Warren a hug from me, instead. And enjoy the hot tub."

"I tend to give him a lot more than a hug and defiantly-." I broke off as I realised she'd ended the call already. "She hung up on me." I complained indignantly as I dropped my cell back onto the low table .

Warren grinned. "So what are you planning on giving me if not a hug?" He asked. I didn't answer; instead I cupped the back of his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

*"*"*

"I swear I'm goin' to be the first werewolf in history to have a stroke." Warren told me as we both tried to catch our breath. "You Kyle Brooks are such a damned tease." I pushed myself up and grinned down at him. We'd moved from the hot tub to our bed though all our clothes were still in the back yard.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it."

"Darlin' I loved it." Warren told me. "As I'm pretty sure you could tell." He shifted slightly and groaned. "But I'm going to be feelin' that for a long while."

"Mine." I kissed one of the hickies I'd left on his neck, with Warren's healing it would be gone in half an hour but I liked seeing my mark on him while it lasted. I knew he felt the same about me because I'd had to remind him several times to keep any marks below the collar of my shirt since they didn't heal nearly as fast on me.

"Yeah." Warren agreed and then shifted slightly like he was listening to something. "Phone." He told me. "You're cell."

"Well that proves the sound-proofing in here doesn't work on you." I said and then lay down with my head on his shoulder. "They can leave a message."

"Good choice." Warren agreed and kissed me. He pulled away a few moments later with a frown. "My cell."

I pushed myself into a sitting position. "I don't think that's coincidence."

We made it down stairs just in time to answer the house phone, someone was very determined to talk to us. I frowned at the number as I answered. "Adam this better be important we were having a-"

He cut me off. "Mercy's missing." I met Warren's eyes and he looked as worried as I felt. "Have you heard from her at all?" The Alpha asked.

"She called earlier." I told him. "She wanted to see how Warren was."

"Did she say anything?" Adam asked sounding just a little frantic.

"No." I told him and then thought. "But she did hang up very suddenly, I thought she was just avoiding my come back."

"I thought I heard a car." Warren put in.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked, I considered giving the phone to Warren but decided against it as the two werewolves could hear each other perfectly well and this way I was included in the conversation.

"Kyle had the phone and we were in the hot tub so I couldn't hear the background noises clearly." Warren explained. "But I thought I heard a car pull up just before she hung up. I didn't think anything of it at the time but if she's missing that might have something to do with it."

"Did you recognise the car?" Adam asked.

"Couldn't hear it that clearly Boss." Warren admitted. "But it might have been a Mercedes, I'm not as good as Mercy at that sort of thing. Newer model though, not a classic or more than ten years old."

"Thanks Warren." Adam said.

"Do you need me to come in?"

"Doesn't sound like tracking her can be done on four legs." Adam told him. "I'll get Ben looking for records of who the car might belong to."

"I hear Charles Cornick is pretty good that that kind of thing." Warren said put in, making the suggestion without making it sound like one, or worse an order. With Mercy missing even I knew that annoying Adam wouldn't be a good idea.

"If Ben can't get anything I'll call Bran." Adam agreed. "Stay where you are for now." He added. "But come over tomorrow if Kyle can spare you from work."

"He's all yours." I answered for myself. "Whatever you need to get Mercy back."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow." Adam finished and hung up.

"Shit." I muttered as I looked down at the phone.

Warren came up behind me and wrapped his arms round me. "We'll get her back Kyle." He assured me. "She's his mate; Adam will move heaven and earth to find her."

I lay my hands over his where they rested on my stomach. "And if he doesn't Bran will kill him."

Warren gave a small laugh. "Yeah, that too." He agreed. "She'll be fine Kyle and if she isn't then we'll help her get better and watch Adam eat whoever took her."

I let his words comfort me though they were scant comfort. We both knew that last time Adam hadn't got there in time and this time no one knew where she was. It could take us days to find her and by then it could be too late. She could have been seriously hurt again. Or worse.

*"*"*

It had been all I could do to actually focus on my work, with Mercy missing I just didn't have the patience to deal with the petty concerns of my clients during the meetings that my day seemed to have been filled with. Sometimes there were genuine cases of abuse, either verbal or physical, but it was my bad luck that the day had only presented me with rich and petty clients. They type that paid the mortgage well but wouldn't make a very good distraction from the fact that my best friend, after Warren of course, had been kidnapped.

Warren was staying at Adam's for the moment; I had insisted on it and all but threatened to lock him out if he argued. Adam needed people he could trust and more than that he needed his friends, Warren was both of those and did his best to keep me updated by phone.

So far what they knew about where Mercy had been taken were mostly negatives, none of the pack could find her and neither could Stefan, though I was a little fuzzy on the details of why the vampire should be able to find her. Warren had told me Stefan would ask Marsillia for her assistance some time that evening, once the vampires were awake. This I gathered was at the moment, akin to his going to my father for help. An absolute last resort.

The why of Mercy's kidnap was a little clearer. Somehow, while visiting her friend, she had managed to attract the attention of the only supernatural creature in the city. I'd shook my head when Warren told me that, only Mercy I thought to myself, she really was a trouble magnet. It would have been far more amusing if the creature was a vampire that chased everything else out Spokan and was called 'Monster' by the other vampires. That wasn't someone I wanted to meet. Or wanted holding Mercy prisoner.

I stayed late at the office, because half working and half worrying was better than sitting at home waiting for Warren to call with an update. I worked on finalising the paperwork for the Nyelund case. An abusive bastard with absolutely no redeeming qualities as far as I could tell. He'd held his wife prisoner in her own home for years. I'd been on this case for nearly six months and once Warren had heard even some of the particulars he'd refused to allow me in the same room as Nyelund without him there, never mind the client, a nice woman named Marcy. She'd moved back to her home town and would shortly be receiving a check that amounted to a good half of everything Nyelund had ever had. Unfortunately she refused to press charges for the abuse so her very-soon-to-be-ex-husband was still walking free. But we'd keep an eye on him, a leopard never changes his spots and all that.

The paperwork complete I filed it in my out-tray to be handled in the morning. Marcy would get a nice settlement, which didn't include her legal fees because, thanks to a very nice and sympathetic judge, Nyelund would be paying those too. I did some pro-bono cases, and I would have in this case, but I did love making the abusive bastards pay for my services.

Looking at the clock I realised that it was well after nine, truthfully closer to ten. It was rare these days that I stayed so late, Warren usually turned up to haul me home so I never stayed more than a couple of hours. I gathered my things and locked up, dinner was a takeout I picked up on the way. Once home I grabbed the mail. A bill, some paperwork for Warren to sign, a couple of adverts and an anti-fae/anti-werewolf flyer. I binned that without reading it, sometimes I did for the amusement factor but I wasn't in the mood. While I ate dinner I watched one of the twenty-four hour news stations so I had at least a vague idea of what was going on in the world. Pretty much all doom and gloom as per usual, though I suspected my negative attitude wasn't helping that interpretation.

I took my cell to bed with me since I'd told Warren to call me the moment he had news and had specified that meant anytime of the day or night. He also knew to call my cell because half the time I never answered the house line and with the soundproofing around our bedroom I'd never hear it. I categorically refused to have a handset in the bedroom, it was one place I especially didn't want to be interrupted by telemarketers.

*"*"*

My cell woke me, I knew by the ringtone it was Warren, he'd just frowned at me when I'd told him what his ringtone was but at least it wasn't 'Who Let The Dogs Out?', which I was currently debating using as the ringtone when someone called from Adam's house.

"That's happened?" I skipped the greeting in favour of information.

"We know where she is." Warren told me, I could hear and engine in the background and hoped he wasn't driving and calling me. "As far as we know she isn't seriously hurt."

"Did Stefan find her?"

"Yes and no." He told me. "I don't have time to explain now but we're on our way, we won't get there before dawn. I'll call as soon as I can."

"You do that." I told him. "And when you find her, give her a hug from me."

"I promise." He hung up without any more good byes. I'd learnt that goodbyes from either of us led to sarcastic comments from any werewolves in hearing distance so I didn't mind. I dropped my head back on the pillow and then looked over at the clock. I was somewhere between vey late and very early, around three in the morning. Faced with the option I decided to see if I could get back to sleep.

Fortunately I could and was woken by the alarm seven, I showered and ate breakfast then headed to the office.


	29. Bone Crossed Part 4

Bone Crossed Part 4

I beat everyone else in to work, Marie stuck her head in when she arrive at eight thirty and frowned at me. "You did go home last night yes?"

"I did." I told her leaving out the time that I did so. "I just woke early and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to get some work done instead."

She shook her head. "I don't know how Warren puts up with your work habits." She said with a sigh. "Would you like a coffee?"

"Please." I told her and she left me alone. I opened my email program and checked my schedule for the day then started organising the files I would need. A young intern brought me my coffee, she'd only started a few days ago and was still horribly nervous around any of the partners. "Thank you." I told her with a reassuring smile as she set my coffee on my desk, within reach but away from anything that it might spill on. I gestured my out-tray. "I finished the paperwork for the Nyelund case, can you take it to Marie please?"

"Yes Mr Brooks." She said.

"How are you settling in?" I asked her, hoping to make her more comfortable.

"Very well Mr Brooks." She said quickly and whether nor not she would have said more than that was a moot point since my cell rang. Warren.

"I need to take this." I said as I picked up my phone and she nodded before hurrying out of the room. "Warren?"

"We've got her." He told me. "A little shaken, a few scratches and bruises, and the vamp took a bite or two of her but nothing that won't fix itself given a few days."

There was fumbling of the phone and I distinctly heard Mercy order Warren to hand it over before the woman herself came on the line. "I'm fine Kyle, stop worrying."

"I will when you stop getting into trouble." I told her with a smile as I relaxed back into my chair. She sounded just like herself. Warren was right, any hurt she'd taken in this would heal in a few days. This time. "So did Adam and co ride to the rescue?" I asked her keeping my tone deliberately light and teasing.

"Nope." She answered cheekily. "I saved myself with a little help from a fae who was also a prisoner. I even had time for a shower before the cavalry got here."

"That's good to know." I laughed.

"I better go, Warren looks like he wants his phone back." She laughed.

"I'll see you soon." I promised and she passed the phone back to Warren. "So everything turned out okay?"

"To a point." He told me. "Mercy's okay and the kid and his father are safe but the vampire killed Mercy's friend."

I think Warren had forgotten something somewhere because I didn't remember there been a child involved. No wait, he'd mentioned somewhere that the friend Mercy had gone to see, presumably now deceased, had a son who must be the child he was talking about. I hoped so anyway, children around vampires wasn't something I liked the idea of.

"Sounds like I have a lot to catch up on." I told him. "When are you going to be home?"

There was a pause and I heard Adam's voice if not his words before Warren answered. "Can you fit in an afternoon meeting at Adam's place?" He asked. "We could use a couple of pointers and I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of divorce and all that."

"Which is why you're the PI and I'm the lawyer." I told him, or he would be a PI once he signed the paperwork waiting at home and I had a couple of words with one or two other people. I checked my schedule. "I can manage four?" I offered. I heard Mercy's voice and then Warren laughed. "Mercy says there's dinner in it for you."

"I take it this is something related to what happened to her."

"Trying to cover it up and keep her friend's husband out of jail, at the moment it would look like he probably murdered her."

"Ah, this could get messy." I agreed. "I'll take you up dinner, if I try to stay late tonight Angelina or Marie might just kick me out."

Warren laughed. "How late did you stay last night?"

"Shall we just call it late and leave it at that?" I suggested with a smile and he laughed again. "Since there's dinner involved should I meet you at Adam's?"

"Nah, I'll come get you." Warren told me. "Otherwise you might lose track of the time." I laughed at that and agreed before we hung up. I felt much better than I had for days as I called reception and Angelina that I would be unavailable and out of the office after four. She sounded a little surprised but nothing unprofessional.

*"*"*

For once I had actually finished and filed my work away before Warren arrived. At five minutes to four Angelina called to let me know my four o'clock appointment had arrive, I could hear her amusement and told her I would be right out.

"Is he a client?" I heard the new intern asking one of the other women, they were stood just out of sight of the reception area and spoke quiet enough that only Warren would have heard them. "He's cute." She added. "Not quite as cute as Mr Brooks though."

I grinned at that. "Why thank you." Neither of them had noticed me and both jumped half out of their skin. I didn't say anything else but went out to greet Warren.

"You aren't the only one who thinks so." The other woman told the intern as I kissed Warren's cheek. "Unfortunately." She let the sentence trail off and sighed. "I need to find a man like that, only straight."

"That does tend to help." Warren called over to them, no one at the office knew he was a werewolf but anyone who'd been there a while knew he had good hearing.

I laughed as well. "Sorry, this one's mine." The poor intern, who had moved slightly so we could see her from the reception area, blushed bright red and disappeared.

Angelina shook her head. "Must you terrorise the interns?"

"If they want to work in law they're going to need thick skin." I told her. "Warren has a friend who needs advice on a divorce." I told her. "And I'm promised dinner for my efforts."

"And you need to get out of these offices earlier." She frowned at me. "I saw the alarm log." I hid a wince, she seemed determined to mother anyone who was younger than she was. "You need to take care of him _hijo_, or he'll work himself into an early grave." Or anyone who appeared to be younger than her since the last was directed at Warren.

I felt rather than heard Warren's faint growl, he didn't like being reminded of my mortality. "I intended to ma'am." He told her and she smiled at him.

"Good now out with you and don't spend all night working, no matter how much advice your friends need."

*"*"*

We took Warren's truck, leaving my car in the parking lot where I could either pick it up on the way home or leave it overnight. As he drove Warren filled me in on more of the details of what had happened to Mercy and the situation that everyone was presently in. Mercy's dead friend was called Amber and her husband, Corban, was a lawyer but corporate rather than divorce and that was how they had met the vampire that had caused this current mess. I sighed to myself at that, it seemed to be the week of the vampires, and prayed that we could have a nice quiet time until at least Christmas.

Adam's house was, for once, fairly deserted of werewolves, with only the Alpha and Samuel there. Apparently after everything the family had been through with the vampire Adam had decided they didn't need to deal with any more supernaturals than was absolutely necessary and had sent the pack home.

Necessary included Samuel for two reasons, one was the obvious of patching Mercy up and the second was obvious when Warren and I walked in and I saw him signing to the young boy. I knew some ALS myself but only enough for the most basic conversation. Still it was enough that I could introduce myself to the boy whose name was Chad and tell him I was there to help his dad.

Considering that his mother had just been killed he seemed to be holding up pretty well, though I wondered how much of that was shock more than anything else. When she saw us Jesse apparently appointed herself in charge of distracting Chad and asked, via Samuel, if he wanted to watch a DVD with her.

With them gone into the lounge I gave Mercy a long hug and we went into the kitchen where she introduced us to Corban. "You remember Warren from earlier." She said but looking at his face I wasn't sure that he really did, Corban looked to be in shock too. "This is his partner Kyle Brooks, he's a divorce lawyer, we're hoping he can help us set up a story that will keep you out of prison."

Corban nodded at that, he seemed pleased to find someone he could consider normal amongst the insanity his life had become. Or at least a fellow lawyer, not everyone would consider us as a profession 'normal'. "Pleased to meet you." He said.

"Likewise" I replied. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

H swallowed. "Thank you for that."

"Why don't you borrow the dining room and see what you can arrange?" Mercy suggested. "While we finish dinner."

"Good idea." I agreed. "Warren?"

"If you're going to be speaking legal mumbo-jumbo I think I'll watch the movie, unless you need me boss?"

His comment might have been directed at Adam but it Mercy who answered. "I think we can manage between us." She laughed and I led Corban into the dining room, closing the door gave the illusion of privacy even if that was all it was.

"Have a seat." I suggested and he all but collapsed into the chair. "I need you to tell me what happened."

"I though the werewolves would have told you." He said.

I nodded. "Yes they did, but this has to explained to human authorities not werewolves." I told him. "We need to find an interpretation of events that us poor humans can accept."

"You're human?" I nodded and wondered if no one had mentioned that to him. "How did you get mixed up with werewolves?"

I shrugged. "I fell in love with one, Warren." I clarified in case he'd missed that earlier. "It went from there. Now as I see the situation, you wife is missing, as is the vampire."

"Blackwood." Corban nodded and I guessed that was the name the vampire had gone by. "Amber is dead, probably buried on Blackwood's property." He buried his head in his hands. "The only interpretation I can come up with is that I murdered Amber and possibly Blackwood, the best thing I'd advise a client to do would be to pled guilty, skip the trial and try for reduced time."

"Which isn't an option." I told him. "You're innocent and your son needs you, so we find another interpretation."

"What else is there?" He asked. "Any cursory search of the property will find Amber's body." I wondered if he'd already found her grave.

I thought on that for a moment. I knew from Mercy and Warren that there were supernatural ways of cleaning up a crime scene, there would have been no way the preternatural community could have stayed hidden so long if there wasn't. I raised my voice only slightly. "Warren can you join us?" Corban looked at me like I was slightly crazy but a moment later Warren opened the door. "Good hearing." I told Corban. "Warren don't give us the details but is there a way to clean up Blackwood's house so that nothing looks out of place."

Warren nodded. "Adam has already arranged it."

"Amber?" Corban asked hoarsely.

Adam opened the door to the kitchen. "Her body will be removed and cremated, her ashes are you choice."

"I'd like them." Corban said with a swallow.

"If the house can be cleared up then I think I have a working plan." I told them.

Adam nodded. "Good because dinner is ready."

"Time to clear off the table." I interpreted for Corben. "Never try to come between a werewolf and dinner." The meal was a subdued affair, out of respect to the loss that Corban and Chad had both suffered, and once we'd finished Mercy and Samuel went home for the night. Adam offered to let the humans stay at his house but I suggested that they might be more comfortable at mine.

"Less chance for random werewolves dropping by at all hours." I told them, most of the pack still didn't know where I lived and I was perfectly happy to keep it that way. "And we can go over any details we need to tonight." The cover story needed to be established as soon as possible.

Adam nodded. "I've got one of my wolves looking into Blackwood from a human perspective, I'll let you know anything he finds out."

"Thank you Adam." I told him, it was always a good idea to stay on an Alpha's good side even when you weren't pack.

Warren's truck was a bit of a tight fit with three adults and Chad but we managed until we reach my office building and I drove the rest of the way home in my own car.

*"*"*

Chad wasn't impressed at the décor of the room we put him in but he was a little happier at the size of the TV in the home cinema. We left him to it and I took Corban to my home office. "I don't think it's really hit him yet that Amber is gone." Corban's voice broke slightly on the last word.

"Probably not." I agreed as I sat behind my desk and gestured for him to take the seat opposite. "I hate to have to put you through this now."

He nodded. "But it has to be done, the longer we wait the worse things could turn out. There'll be time to mourn Amber later."

"Agreed." I told him. "For now we need to focus on keeping you out of jail. Adam is making sure that Amber's body and everything else supernatural or even suspicious about Blackwood's house disappears." He nodded. "I'm sorry to have to say this but the best thing is to make it appear as though Amber and Blackwood ran off together." He looked pained. "I know it will disgrace her name and memory by making it seem that she abandoned her husband and son, especially give Chad's disability, but I think it might be the only choice."

"I don't want people to remember her like that." Corban said. "She'd never have done it."

"I know." I offered. "But I think she would have rather had people think that about her than risk you ending up in jail and Chad in care."

"She doesn't have any family that she'd close to, nor do I really, and you're right Chad would end up in care." He shook his head. "It seems disrespectful but you're right, it might be the only choice."

"I can't see another way or I'd take it." I told him. "Hopefully Adam's wolf will find out what the general unofficial opinion on Blackwood is." I suspected the wolf in question was Ben, he was reported to be a computer wizz. "Hopefully he wasn't too well liked so there won't be an intensive search for him or anything. "

"Not that they'll find anything." Corban agreed and sighed. "Chad will know his mother didn't run out on him, that will have to be enough." He frowned. "How are you on family law beyond divorce? Personally I always detested the subject."

"Some, why?"

"Chad isn't my son, biologically." Corban admitted. "Amber was already pregnant when we met."

I frowned. "Is it our name on the birth certificate?" I asked

Corban shook his head. "No, the father was left blank but I did legally adopt him, we were going to tell him when he turned eighteen but Blackwood somehow knew and tried to use it against him."

"The adoption will be enough." I told him. "Hopefully it will never come up. You do realise that you're going to have to divorce Amber right?"

Corban sighed. "I suspected as much, she won't come back and it will lend more credence to the story right."

"I nodded. "If you like I'll take care of it all for you, we'll need to wait a couple of months but I promise I will make this as easy for you as possible."

"Thank you." He told me. "It just doesn't seem real yet."

"It will take time." I told him honestly. "But you're going to have to be brave for Chad, the next week is going to be rough."

"I have to report her missing."

"We'll sort everything out in the morning." I promised him. "Why don't you spend some time with Chad, he needs you right now." Corban nodded and left me alone, I knew that sometime tonight the grief would hit him and he'd have to fight his way through it because tomorrow he would need to go home and make it look as if his wife had left him for another man. I called Adam and gave him the details of the plan I had created, in return Adam filled me in on what Ben had found out. Officially Blackwood was a respected business man, unofficially he had angered and scared people in equal measure. It was unlikely anyone would look for him when he suddenly disappeared.

*"*"*

The next day was spent juggling my normal work and Corban's case. Officially Amber was presently missing, as far as the police were concerned she had gone to Blackwood's house, Corban told then she had offered to take some papers over for him and simply never come back. Adam told me that the police were searching Blackwood's house but assured me they wouldn't find anything. The removal of personal items and clothes would make certain that they believed he had gone away for good, careful hiding of some of Amber's things would do the same for her.

I didn't like doing that to a dead woman's reputation but I didn't think that, wherever she might be now, she'd object all that much since it was keeping her husband out of jail and with their son. As I'd predicted the reality of her death had hit Corban sometime in the night and his eyes had been red-rimmed at breakfast, as had Chad's but neither of us said anything about it. Corban had thanked us for our hospitality and taken his son home, even after everything they had both been through their ordeal still wasn't over and especially for Chad perhaps it never would be.

"You planning on coming home anytime tonight?" Warren asked as the leant against the door of my office.

"Depends, are you going to be there?" It was mostly flirtation but there was also the hint of a question, Warren hadn't been around that much but given the circumstances I couldn't blame him for it, in fact I'd encouraged him.

"What will you give me if I am?" He flirted right back and I couldn't help grinning. I didn't know how he managed it but he always knew just what to say to make to heart flutter, his flirting was subtler than mine, more private and generally not used as a weapon, but when he did flirt it made me feel like a teenager again.

"Oh I might be able to think of something." I told him and he smirked at me before puhing himself off the door with his shoulder and walking over so he was leaning against me desk next to where I was sitting in my chair.

"What you working on?" He asked.

"Just finishing up some paperwork I needed to have done today, I planned to do it earlier but I had to help Adam with Corban's case."

"Did I think you for that?" He asked me seriously. "It's no responsibility of yours and you're not been paid for it but you're still going to all this trouble."

"I'm the best qualified to advise on it." I told him. "I've seen enough people walk out on their families that I know how to stage it." I took his hand and laced his fingers through with mine. "Mercy is my friend and I'd do it for that alone but more than that, she's part of your pack and I know that your pack is like your family." Complete with the homophobic idiots and general assholes you find in every family. "And you are mine." I twisted our joined hands so I could kiss the back of his hand. "That makes the pack pretty much my in-laws, or the closest I'm going to get."

Warren didn't bother with my hand, he leant down and kissed me on the lips instead. When he pulled back he looked me straight in the eye. "You are amazing Kyle, I don't think I've ever told you that but how easily you can accept everything is simply amazing and far more than I thought I'd ever have or even deserve."

"Well you have me." I told him. "And I'll be the judge on what you deserve." I gave him a quick kiss. "And I would put up with an awful lot to have you, don't doubt that Warren. I can't think of anything you can tell me that will make me want to leave you."

His grin made him look like a teenager. "I love you too Kyle, so how about getting out of here and finding dinner?"

I laughed but started putting my paperwork away. "Fine, fine, I suppose I better feed you before you start snacking on the neighbours' cats."

"Too bony." Warren muttered.

I laughed again. "Oh and there's some paperwork for you to sign at home, it came the other day but we've been so busy I forgot to mention it." I told him. "It's for you PI licence."

"I'll sign it tonight." Warren agreed. "And on the subject of work, Mercy is painting her garage this weekend."

It actually took me a moment to realise why she needed to, after all Mercy wasn't one to spend money on décor at her garage. Unlike law offices, people didn't expect cleanliness at a garage. Then I remembered that somewhere, back before two separate lots of vampire trouble, the cousin of the bastard rapist had decided to decorate the garage with her opinion of Mercy. Someone had mentioned it to me at some point but I wasn't exactly sure who, probably Warren though, or when.

"I really hope she isn't looking for help." I said and then gave him a very firm look. "And that you didn't volunteer us." I liked to do my part to keep the service industry well in business; I had a maid who came several times a week and a gardener who come once a week as well as someone to service the pool. I could manage the basics with my car but anything more than that and it went to a garage. And I always hired professional decorators.

"Would I do that to you?" Warren asked and I shot him a warning look. He'd joked a couple of times how pretty I'd look with paint in my hair. "Nah, you're safe, Mercy's hiring the Santos girls to do it, Gabriel's sisters, and the girl responsible for the mess is paying in return for Mercy dropping the charges."

It seemed fair enough to me, and having seen how those same young girls managed to get Mercy's office clean, a feat I had previous considered impossible, I had no doubt the place would be done in less than a day. I just hope they haggled for a good rate of pay, and possibly cookies too.

"Good for her." I said as I locked my desk draw. "Home?"

"Home sounds good." Warren agreed. As I followed him out I thought about his house, we'd hardly been there since he'd nearly been killed and more and more of his stuff was migrating to mine. I wondered again why he still kept it when there wasn't even that much stored there anymore but I decided not to bring it up for the moment, I'd wait until at least Thanksgiving, the one year anniversary of my finding out what he was, then we'd start discussing the matter. And we'd keep discussing it until we were both living, permanently, under the same roof, preferably mine as there was more space, and a hot tub, and a pool, and a double garage. Not that Warren cared about all that but I did love my creature comforts.

* * *

AN: And that is the end of Bone Crossed, for the bad news: I'm in the middle of writing up my dissertation and I have one more piece of course work as well. I also haven't written any of the Silver Borne chapters yet. Basically it's going to be a long wait, do not expect anything before October, it may even be longer than that! Sorry in advance, hope everyone enjoys summer and see you in autumn (hopefully)!


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